Speaking of thermohaline circulation, this article might provide food for thought:
"...calculations suggest that the water cycle speeds up 8 percent for every degree Celsius of climate warming." SCIENCE: Speedup of ocean water cycle could affect world food supplies Lauren Morello, E&E reporter Published: Friday, April 27, 2012 Climate change is speeding up the world's water cycle, new research has found. Australian researchers say their analysis of shifts in the saltiness of the oceans shows that the global water cycle grew 4 percent stronger between 1950 and 2000, twice the change projected by climate models. "These changes suggest that arid regions have become drier and high rainfall regions have become wetter in response to observed global warming," the study's lead author, Paul Durack, said in a statement. Durack, a postdoctoral researcher at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, co-authored the paper with colleagues at the University of Tasmania and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Hobart, Australia. Their work was published yesterday in the journal Science. Their calculations suggest that the water cycle speeds up 8 percent for every degree Celsius of climate warming. During the 50-year period the scientists examined, the water cycle accelerated by 4 percent and the global average temperature rose by roughly 0.5 degree Celsius. By the end of the century, when temperatures are expected to be 3 degrees Celsius higher than they are today, the water cycle could be 24 percent faster. That could have significant impacts on the world's food supply as rainfall patterns shift. The new analysis draws on a 50-year record of global salinity collected by ships and, in recent years, by roughly 3,500 robotic probes, called Argo floats, that roam the world's oceans. Studying the oceans to determine changes in the global water cycle, from evaporation to precipitation, makes sense because the seas store 97 percent of the Earth's water, receive 80 percent of surface rainfall and cover 70 percent of the planet's surface, the scientists said. In areas where rainfall decreases, ocean water becomes saltier. Where rainfall increases, water becomes fresher. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en.
