Accyweb's Help With Lost Item! - Page 4

WillowTheWhisp · 10-01-2007, 17:08

This sea currents thing is confusing me now. If the currents are going to stay the same how is the Gulf Stream/Atlantic drift going to change? Just have colder non drifty water on top of it?

jambutty · 10-01-2007, 17:20

As the NAD progresses northwards it meets the cold water of the North Atlantic, cools and becomes more dense than the water it meets. This causes it to sink and underwater currents take it back towards the Mexican Gulf.

If or maybe rather when the North polar ice cap melts it chucks squillions of tons of very cold water into the North Atlantic and it travels southwards and meets the NAD further south than before. Thus the above process happens further south than normal.

The more melt there is from the North polar ice cap the further south the GS sinks.

Billcat · 10-01-2007, 18:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

It's all down to altitude. It always amazes me when you're flying that you get ice on the plane windows. I wonder why that didn't happen to Icarus?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/feature...altitude.shtml

And as you go higher, the density of the air, which helps to capture and reatain heat, rapidly decreases. Also, at sea level, there is a lot of land and water to capture and retain the sun's radiant heat. Not so at high altitudes!

Billcat · 10-01-2007, 18:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

This sea currents thing is confusing me now. If the currents are going to stay the same how is the Gulf Stream/Atlantic drift going to change? Just have colder non drifty water on top of it?

Hi Willow,

Two things that drive the Gulf Stream circulation. The first, of course, is the enormous amount of solar energy captured by the tropical areas of the ocean. However, as the stream cools, the salinity of the water causes it to sink in the northern seas, where there is essentially a cold return current. As this cold current runs deep in the ocean, it does not cause a lot of cooling to land masses. The concern is that the fresh water ice melt from the Arctic will interfere with and possibly stop the sinking of the water, messing up the return flow, effectively shutting the Gulf Stream down.

WillowTheWhisp · 10-01-2007, 19:37

OK maybe I'm being a bit dim but why won't the salty water mix with the non salty water and just make a batch of less salty water? (Like when you add more cold water to a pan of boiling salted water.)

jambutty · 11-01-2007, 11:48

It’s not being dim WillowTheWhisp, just curious and there is nothing wrong in that.

We are talking about squillions and squillions of gallons of water and the fresh will mix with the salty – eventually. It just doesn’t happen in an instant like it does in your saucepan.

Taking the principle to the extreme – put a spoonful of Bovril in a cup and then pour water onto it. The mix will not occur unless you stir it vigorously.

shillelagh · 11-01-2007, 13:27

It hailstoned yesterday when i was taking a 5 minute break round the back of the sports centre!

SPUGGIE J · 11-01-2007, 14:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billcat

Hi Willow,

Two things that drive the Gulf Stream circulation. The first, of course, is the enormous amount of solar energy captured by the tropical areas of the ocean. However, as the stream cools, the salinity of the water causes it to sink in the northern seas, where there is essentially a cold return current. As this cold current runs deep in the ocean, it does not cause a lot of cooling to land masses. The concern is that the fresh water ice melt from the Arctic will interfere with and possibly stop the sinking of the water, messing up the return flow, effectively shutting the Gulf Stream down.

Hs it not shut down at least once before thanks to an out spill of fresh water from Canada?