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Richard Macey, Sydney Morning Herald: Global warming
could disrupt the world's sea currents, sending Europe
into a chill within 100 years and devastating tropical
ocean life, a CSIRO scientist says. Richard Matear, a
Hobart-based marine researcher, said the oxygen
content of deep ocean water between Australia and
Antarctica had fallen 3 per cent since 1968. If new
research confirmed the decline was happening
throughout the world's southern oceans, it would be a
strong sign global warming was interfering with sea
currents.
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This story was found at:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/10/1078594434768.html
Chilling end to global warming forecast
By Richard Macey
March 11, 2004
Global warming could disrupt the world's sea currents, sending Europe into a chill within 100 years and devastating tropical ocean life, a CSIRO scientist says. Richard Matear, a Hobart-based marine
researcher, said the oxygen content of deep ocean
water between Australia and Antarctica had fallen 3
per cent since 1968. If new research confirmed the
decline was happening throughout the world's southern
oceans, it would be a strong sign global warming was
interfering with sea currents.
According to NASA "the thawing of sea ice covering the
Arctic could disturb or even halt large currents in
the Atlantic Ocean.
"Without the vast heat these currents deliver -
comparable to the power generation of a million
nuclear power plants - Europe's average temperature
would likely drop 5 to 10 degrees."
While North America would not be as severely hit, the
space agency said "such a dip in temperature would be
similar to global average temperatures toward the end
of the last ice age roughly 20,000 years ago".
While NASA said many scientists were sceptical, it
quoted Dr Robert Gagosian, director of the private
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts,
as saying such a change in ocean currents could happen
within 20 years.
Yesterday Dr Matear explained that if global warming
continued melting Arctic ice and increasing
evaporation, boosting rainfall in the North Atlantic,
"the North Atlantic could be flooded with fresh water.
The flood of fresh water reduces the density of the
surface and prevents the water from sinking deep into
ocean," he said, adding that the vertical sinking of
sea water helped drive ocean circulation.
Officially called the thermo-haline circulation, the
pattern is sometimes dubbed the Great Conveyer Belt.
Dr Matear said the decline in oxygen levels in deep
water of the Southern Ocean was exactly what computer
modelling suggested would be seen if global warming
slowed this circulation, reducing the cold water
flowing south of Australia. "Cold water is high in
oxygen," he said.
Dr Matear said although it was too early to say what
impact a shutdown of ocean currents would have on
Australian temperatures, he agreed Europe could be
sent into a severe chill.
"A decline of five degrees by end of this century . .
. that wouldn't be unrealistic."
Dr Matear said a decline in oxygen levels would be
particularly serious for sea life in the tropics,
where the warmer water is already oxygen-poor.