Oceans storing climate catastrophe
Heat being
stored in the North Atlantic Ocean could eventually be released into
the atmosphere, resulting in a dramatic rise in temperature, according
to the results of a seven-year survey published in Geophysical Research
Letters.
Oceanographers from Southampton and Plymouth universities have discovered that to a depth of 1,500 metres, the average temperature of sea water between Western Europe and the eastern USA has increased by 0.015°C since 1999. “People might think that it doesn’t sounds like a big temperature rise, but it’s very signifi cant,” said one of the study’s authors, Dr Neil Wells of the National Oceanographic Centre at the University of Southampton. The scientists believe that such a rise could cause the atmosphere to warm by 9°C.
The research was based upon data collected by 200 floats, part of a worldwide network called Argo, spread across 23.5 million square kilometres of the North Atlantic.
February 2007
Oceanographers from Southampton and Plymouth universities have discovered that to a depth of 1,500 metres, the average temperature of sea water between Western Europe and the eastern USA has increased by 0.015°C since 1999. “People might think that it doesn’t sounds like a big temperature rise, but it’s very signifi cant,” said one of the study’s authors, Dr Neil Wells of the National Oceanographic Centre at the University of Southampton. The scientists believe that such a rise could cause the atmosphere to warm by 9°C.
The research was based upon data collected by 200 floats, part of a worldwide network called Argo, spread across 23.5 million square kilometres of the North Atlantic.
February 2007
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