A group of scientists recently drew attention to the fact that a large iceberg currently roaming the Southern Ocean threatens to adversely affect the currents and weather patterns of the world. The enormous piece of ice broke off from the Mertz Glacier Tongue, which is a 60-kilometer-long slip of floating ice that protrudes from East Antarctica. The location is just south of the Australian metropolis Melbourne. Global warming skeptics have for many years argued against the existence of the phenomenon, by saying that ices in East Antarctica grow. If they grow by breaking, then they were correct. The large iceberg is currently south of Australia, the BBC News reports.
The thing is that this impressive ice block currently lingers in an area that is directly responsible for producing 25 percent of the Earth's dense and cold seawater. The region directly influences the temperature ranges of winters in the northern Atlantic region, and experts warn that the glacier's presence there could significantly alter upcoming winter seasons for the United States, Canada and Europe. The correlation is not direct, experts say, in the sense that a glacier south of Australia does not make the air colder. But it hinders bottom water production, which in turn alters global weather patterns. And the ones acting over the north Atlantic happen to be heavily influenced by these events.
This area accounts for about 25% of the production of bottom water in Antarctica, and therefore it will reduce the overturning circulation rate. You won't see it immediately, but it has downstream effects. And it will also have implications for penguins and other wildlife in the region that normally use this area for feeding, said the British news agency Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Research Center glaciologist Dr Neal Young. He explains that these cold waters are one of the main driving forces behind the Conveyor Belt, the large pattern of global oceanic circulation, which dictates Earth's climate.
In the northern Atlantic, these large currents carry warmer water northwards, and create a loop in an area located roughly between Greenland and the UK. Water cools here, and sinks, after which it begins heading southwards. The heat that is emitted as this happens is then driven over Europe, ensuring that the continent does not fall prey to ice sheets. During ice ages, the currents stop spinning in this loop, cutting down heat, and allowing ices to advance in Europe all the way to the vicinity of the Mediterranean Sea.
The thing is that this impressive ice block currently lingers in an area that is directly responsible for producing 25 percent of the Earth's dense and cold seawater. The region directly influences the temperature ranges of winters in the northern Atlantic region, and experts warn that the glacier's presence there could significantly alter upcoming winter seasons for the United States, Canada and Europe. The correlation is not direct, experts say, in the sense that a glacier south of Australia does not make the air colder. But it hinders bottom water production, which in turn alters global weather patterns. And the ones acting over the north Atlantic happen to be heavily influenced by these events.
This area accounts for about 25% of the production of bottom water in Antarctica, and therefore it will reduce the overturning circulation rate. You won't see it immediately, but it has downstream effects. And it will also have implications for penguins and other wildlife in the region that normally use this area for feeding, said the British news agency Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Research Center glaciologist Dr Neal Young. He explains that these cold waters are one of the main driving forces behind the Conveyor Belt, the large pattern of global oceanic circulation, which dictates Earth's climate.
In the northern Atlantic, these large currents carry warmer water northwards, and create a loop in an area located roughly between Greenland and the UK. Water cools here, and sinks, after which it begins heading southwards. The heat that is emitted as this happens is then driven over Europe, ensuring that the continent does not fall prey to ice sheets. During ice ages, the currents stop spinning in this loop, cutting down heat, and allowing ices to advance in Europe all the way to the vicinity of the Mediterranean Sea.
