login
Become a member
Quick Registration
Full Registration Benefits -
Free Homepages for Doctors
Free Homepages for Hospitals
Free Homepages for Medical Conference
Free Homepages for NGO's
Personal Health Record Creation
Access to all Medical Slides
Access to all Jobs & Products Sale
Fluctuations in Ocean Salinity Could Forewarn of Climate Change
The results, presented at a recent European Science Foundation (ESF) conference states that a build up of salty water stimulates deep-water circulation, while a diluting of the waters results in sluggish flow.
Salt plays a far more important role that we first thought, said Prof. Rainer Zahn, a palaeoclimatologist at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain.
Salt increases the density of water. Once a pocket of water becomes salty enough, it sinks, drawing in additional water from surrounding areas, and initiating an ocean circulation loop called thermohaline overturning.
Using a combination of modern observations, numerical models and palaeoclimate data, scientists have now discovered that a build up of salt in the waters off the coast of South Africa could help speed up ocean circulation in the North Atlantic, despite the two areas being thousands of kilometres apart.
A salt surge is enough to kick start circulation. Meanwhile, a decrease in saltiness in South African waters could be linked to a slowing down of the North Atlantic circulation, said Prof. Zahn.
Prof. Zahn said though models and data both indicate that these changes in ocean circulation over on a very short time-scale, usually in less than a decade or two (It takes nearly a century for a parcel of water to move from the South Atlantic to the North Atlantic), the energy is transferred through the ocean along a deep pressure wave.
|
|
|
More News on: Health Effects of Global Warming
 Comment & Contribute
|
- Health News Index
- News Quick Links
| News Categories: |
| » | Post Surgery Will the Tumour Return? New Breast Cancer Test to Predict Exactly |
| » | Scientists Develop Compound That Triggers Cancer Cell Death |
| » | Iraqi National Hopes to Find Affordable Treatment for His Cancer in India |
| » | New Technique can Help Doctors Detect Pancreatic Cancer |
| » | Colorectal Cancer Risk Factors Probed |
| More Cancer News | |
|
