[Coco] Rita heading towards CoCo3.com :)

[Stephen H. Fischer]

Gene Heskett wrote:

> While generally true, don't forget the decrease in salinization. The
> sea ice is fairly pure water, the salt having been excluded from the
> freezing. Its this reduction in the specific gravity that the
> atlantic conveyer runs on that is bringing it to a halt also. When it
> reached the north end, the cooling caused it to sink & reverse path,
> but with the dilution of the saline by the thawing ice, combined with
> the glacial melt runnoff, is lowering the specific gravity of the
> now cooler water and neutralizing the engine that drives the atlantic
> conveyer. That may throw another little ice age across europe and our
> northeastern seacoast. But this will be temporary if we drasticly
> reduce the greenhouse gases we emit with our cattle & machinery.
>
> I won't live to see it, or very much of it, since I'll be 71 in a
> couple of weeks, but I have several great grandchildren who might.
>
> --
> Cheers, Gene

Hi,

You may see it. A PBS show showed that it could happen very quickly. A rerun
appeared here just recently. There may be more on PBS.org.

The north part of the conveyer is in a basin with an underwater ridge at the
south end. Just change the salinization of the water above the ridge and the
entire Atlantic conveyer changes to something different than what we have
now. They did not indicate how the pattern we have now could be restarted,
just said nothing.

I wonder if it will be temporary to even your G G G G children.

Stephen H. Fischer