Cold comfort during global warming
28 Jun 2005 by Evoluted New Media
Global warming could result in northern Europe growing colder as the southern hemisphere gets hotter, say scientists
Global warming could result in northern Europe growing colder as the southern hemisphere gets hotter, say scientists.
The research, based on analysis of changing climate patterns at the end of the last ice age, suggests that ice age conditions could return to the northern hemisphere sooner than was previously thought.
Glaciers could return to northern Europe sooner than scientists had previously thought.
“Our discoveries raise interesting questions for our present warming world,” explains Project leader Professor David Sugden, of the University of Edinburgh’s school of GeoSciences. “People think that world temperatures are rising everywhere, but this study implies that areas can go in the opposite direction.”
The study suggests that major shifts in global climate are influenced not just by atmospheric conditions, but also by fluctuations in ocean currents. Dr Robert McCullock, of the university of Stirling, explained: “The worlds oceans act like a heat pump, redistributing heat to the colder poles. An example of this is the Gulf Stream which keeps northern Europe largely ice free.”
The research team spent 14 years analysing radiocarbon and isotope samples from Patagonia to build an accurate picture of glacier changes during the past 25,000 years. They found that during times of major climate change, glaciers in Patagonia expanded as those in the north shrank, and vice versa. This complex climatic ‘seesaw’ effect - last triggered when the post-Ice Age earth heated thousands of years ago - could be set off again in our present warming world.
Dr McCullock said: “We are moving into uncharted territory, there is more CO2 in the atmosphere than any previous record shows. If it is heating the world, the seesaw effect could be triggered again and the Gulf Stream could shut down, significantly cooling the north Atlantic.”
