The Oil Drum: Australia/New Zealand | Floating Offshore Wind Power Update

79 comments on Floating Offshore Wind Power Update

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janap128 on June 13, 2009 - 3:25pm

Massive infusions of fresh water from the melting of the Greenland ice cap will dilute the salt content of the northern Atlantic Ocean for millennia and stop the world wide circulations of the seas that you reference. Things that always have been will change drastically and unpredictably. Yes, things that have been since the dawn of civilization will change. That is what climate change is all about. This is what makes it so fearful. References from past studies will not hold true and are not applicable as a prediction of the future. That is what change is.

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enemy of state on June 15, 2009 - 12:24am

Massive infusions of fresh water from the melting of the Greenland ice cap will dilute the salt content of the northern Atlantic Ocean for millennia

If this were to take place, let us call it the north atlantic freshening mode, the relative cooling of the north atlantic region would slow the melting. This implies a fairly strong negative feedback mechanism exists for this mode. A negative feedback will act to limit the amplitude of the change. This mode, if it is indeed real would rduce the albedo driven polar amplification, but not likely eliminate it.

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ccpo on June 15, 2009 - 1:53am

the relative cooling of the north atlantic region would slow the melting.

How so? Sea water is warmer than ice, so the melting wouldn't seem overly effected. This is especially true since the ocean currents run from the Pacific through the Arctic Ocean to the Atlantic, as do the winds, in general.

Still, if you can explain how this might slow melt, it'd be interesting. After all, the Younger Dryas *did* happen.

Cheers

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