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“Ice age blob” of warm ocean water discovered south of Greenland
https://cage.uit.no/news/ice-age-blob-of-warm-ocean-water-discovered-south-of-greenland/[font face=Serif]19/02/2016
[font size=5]“Ice age blob” of warm ocean water discovered south of Greenland[/font]
Warm ocean water existed south of Greenland, wedged between two major ice sheets during the last ice age. illustration: M. Sojtaric/colourbox.com
[font size=4]Greenland experienced several abrupt and brutal climate changes during the last ice age. But even during the coldest periods a blob of warm surface water existed nearby.[/font]
Text: Maja Sojtaric
[font size=3]New research published in Nature Scientific Reports in February indicates that a warm ocean surface water prevailed during the last ice age, sandwiched between two major ice sheets just south of Greenland.
Extreme climate changes in the past
Ice core records show that Greenland went through 25 extreme and abrupt climate changes during the last ice age some 20.000 to 70.000 years ago. In less than 50 years the air temperatures over Greenland could increase by 10 to 15 °C. However the warm periods were short; within a few centuries the frigid temperatures of the ice age returned. That kind of climate change would have been catastrophic for us today.
…
Then, as now, the circulation of Atlantic Ocean, with currents such as the Gulf Stream, regulated transportation of heat to this area. Simply put, the surface currents transport heat from the southern and tropical Atlantic toward the North Atlantic.
…[/font][/font]
[font size=5]“Ice age blob” of warm ocean water discovered south of Greenland[/font]
Warm ocean water existed south of Greenland, wedged between two major ice sheets during the last ice age. illustration: M. Sojtaric/colourbox.com
[font size=4]Greenland experienced several abrupt and brutal climate changes during the last ice age. But even during the coldest periods a blob of warm surface water existed nearby.[/font]
Text: Maja Sojtaric
[font size=3]New research published in Nature Scientific Reports in February indicates that a warm ocean surface water prevailed during the last ice age, sandwiched between two major ice sheets just south of Greenland.
Extreme climate changes in the past
Ice core records show that Greenland went through 25 extreme and abrupt climate changes during the last ice age some 20.000 to 70.000 years ago. In less than 50 years the air temperatures over Greenland could increase by 10 to 15 °C. However the warm periods were short; within a few centuries the frigid temperatures of the ice age returned. That kind of climate change would have been catastrophic for us today.
…
Then, as now, the circulation of Atlantic Ocean, with currents such as the Gulf Stream, regulated transportation of heat to this area. Simply put, the surface currents transport heat from the southern and tropical Atlantic toward the North Atlantic.
…[/font][/font]
