1. Ocean circulation in a warming climate.
- Author
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Toggweiler, J. R. and Russell, Joellen
- Subjects
- *
OCEAN circulation , *GLOBAL warming , *LAST Glacial Maximum , *PLEISTOCENE stratigraphic geology , *OCEAN-atmosphere interaction , *OCEAN currents , *ATMOSPHERIC temperature , *GLOBAL temperature changes , *CLIMATE change , *METEOROLOGICAL research - Abstract
The article focuses on the research on ocean circulation in a warming climate. Accordingly, findings show that the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) had stronger winds which fit to the common observation that it is windier in the winter than in the summer because there is greater thermal contrast within the atmosphere in the winter hemisphere. Moreover, the paper cited several observations that predict that oceans' circulation will weaken in response to global warming, but the warming at the end of the last ice age suggests a different outcome. However, by studying these observations, it is clear that large circulation changes took place and it seems unlikely that circulation changes of this magnitude could have happened without substantial changes in the wind forcing.
- Published
- 2008
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