On 24/09/2007, Zeke Hausfather <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> The risk of Northern Europe plunging into
> a new Ice Age due to global warming have been overplayed in the media
> to an extent not supported by the science.


Good so far

The THC is a global ocean circulation driven by changes in density and
> salinity of ocean waters.


I think that there are hideously complex oceanographic reasons why this
isn't fully accurate. the THC *is* the global thermo/haline circulation but
isn't fully driven by density differences - wind forcing is important. You
cannot truely separate the two. Did RC do this? RMG might know the truth -
there is a Theorem in in.

The THC is one of the main reasons
> that the United Kingdom and other Northern European countries enjoy
> such a mild climate, despite sharing the same latitude as Siberia
> (http://www.climate.unibe.ch/~stocker/papers/stocker02sci.pdf).


That can be qualified too (maritime/contintenal).

We know from the paleoclimate record that the THC has shut down in the
> past, causing temperatures in Northern Europe to fall 3 to 6 degrees
> C.


Is that true? (I'm unsure). The best D-O records are from the greenland
cores. What are you using for northern europe?

These shutdowns are thought to be caused by massive freshwater
> releases into the North Atlantic from enormous glacial lakes that
> develop as the world moves out of ice ages.


You might be overcertain on the cause here.

While a slowdown of the THC would still
> have a cooling effect on Northern Europe, it would likely be more than
> offset by the larger global warming trend.


yes. May need more emphasis for the general public.

In 2005, Harry Bryden, an oceanographer, and his research team
> published an article in Nature that shocked many in the climate field


Irritated might be closer

-W.

-- 
William M. Connolley | www.wmconnolley.org.uk | 07985 935400

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