RELATED TOPIC (scivillage): Scientists predict collapse of the Atlantic ocean current
You'll have to go to the YouTube location below. I'm not embedding this video because as of late some of Sabine's vids have had a tendency to be blocked or disappear behind paywalls.
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https://youtu.be/tnVWUIhQ8dE
VIDEO EXCERPTS: Europe is a cozy place. Not too warm in the summer, not too cold in the winter, not too wet and not too dry. But the climate in Europe depends strongly on the Gulf Stream, and for us over here, that the Gulf Stream stops or weakens is one of the scariest possible consequences of climate change. In case you’re in the US and don’t really care, let me mention that the US is the biggest importer of European wine, so you should care.
But can the Gulf Stream really stop as the headlines scream? No, it can’t. Why? And what might happen instead? That’s what we’ll talk about today.
[...] London is further North than Boston, and yet the climate in London is considerably milder than in Boston. London doesn’t get as cold in the winter and not as warm in the summer as Boston does. This makes you think there’s something extraordinarily precious about Europe, but actually it’s just physics. Yes, physics.
[...] The major reason for the Gulf Stream is again, that the Earth turns, plus that the wind drags on the water. The reason the Gulf Stream is so important for the weather in Europe is that it warms the water in the North, and that warms the air above the ocean. And since the wind over the ocean usually blows from West to East, that brings warm air to Northern Europe. The Gulf Stream doesn’t only bring warm water to Europe, a lot of sea animals use it for transport as well.
[...] Okay, so now what’s with the supposed collapse of the Gulf Stream? Those headlines are based on a confusion between two different ocean currents, the Gulf Stream and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, AMOC for short. It’s also known as the Atlantic thermohaline circulation, different word, same thing, but not the same as the Gulf Stream.
The AMOC is really a remarkably complex and super confusing network of circulations and not just one, but it has one major feature: It transports warm water from near the equator towards the North Pole. On the way to the North Pole, the water cools and sinks down, goes back south, and the cycle repeats. The important point is now that the AMOC combines with the Gulf Stream, so that, in effect, the Gulf Stream is directed further North. The same thing does not happen in the Pacific Ocean.
[...] So that’s the thing that everyone is worried about: that the AMOC will stop. However, this would not mean that the Gulf Stream would stop. The Gulf Stream is caused by the rotation of the earth. The only way to stop the Gulf Stream is quite literally to stop the Earth from turning. Even driving a pickup truck isn’t going to make that happen. And if the rotation of the earth really was to stop, trust me, you’d have better things to worry about than the Gulf Stream.
It’s not only newspapers which constantly conflate the Gulf Stream with the AMOC, the same thing happens, unfortunately in a video from Kurzgesagt about the Gulf Stream. It’s to date been watched by more than 5 million people. I’m afraid this makes it near impossible for me to weed out this confusion, but at least now you can’t blame me for not even trying... (MORE - missing details)
You'll have to go to the YouTube location below. I'm not embedding this video because as of late some of Sabine's vids have had a tendency to be blocked or disappear behind paywalls.
- - - - - - - -
https://youtu.be/tnVWUIhQ8dE
VIDEO EXCERPTS: Europe is a cozy place. Not too warm in the summer, not too cold in the winter, not too wet and not too dry. But the climate in Europe depends strongly on the Gulf Stream, and for us over here, that the Gulf Stream stops or weakens is one of the scariest possible consequences of climate change. In case you’re in the US and don’t really care, let me mention that the US is the biggest importer of European wine, so you should care.
But can the Gulf Stream really stop as the headlines scream? No, it can’t. Why? And what might happen instead? That’s what we’ll talk about today.
[...] London is further North than Boston, and yet the climate in London is considerably milder than in Boston. London doesn’t get as cold in the winter and not as warm in the summer as Boston does. This makes you think there’s something extraordinarily precious about Europe, but actually it’s just physics. Yes, physics.
[...] The major reason for the Gulf Stream is again, that the Earth turns, plus that the wind drags on the water. The reason the Gulf Stream is so important for the weather in Europe is that it warms the water in the North, and that warms the air above the ocean. And since the wind over the ocean usually blows from West to East, that brings warm air to Northern Europe. The Gulf Stream doesn’t only bring warm water to Europe, a lot of sea animals use it for transport as well.
[...] Okay, so now what’s with the supposed collapse of the Gulf Stream? Those headlines are based on a confusion between two different ocean currents, the Gulf Stream and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, AMOC for short. It’s also known as the Atlantic thermohaline circulation, different word, same thing, but not the same as the Gulf Stream.
The AMOC is really a remarkably complex and super confusing network of circulations and not just one, but it has one major feature: It transports warm water from near the equator towards the North Pole. On the way to the North Pole, the water cools and sinks down, goes back south, and the cycle repeats. The important point is now that the AMOC combines with the Gulf Stream, so that, in effect, the Gulf Stream is directed further North. The same thing does not happen in the Pacific Ocean.
[...] So that’s the thing that everyone is worried about: that the AMOC will stop. However, this would not mean that the Gulf Stream would stop. The Gulf Stream is caused by the rotation of the earth. The only way to stop the Gulf Stream is quite literally to stop the Earth from turning. Even driving a pickup truck isn’t going to make that happen. And if the rotation of the earth really was to stop, trust me, you’d have better things to worry about than the Gulf Stream.
It’s not only newspapers which constantly conflate the Gulf Stream with the AMOC, the same thing happens, unfortunately in a video from Kurzgesagt about the Gulf Stream. It’s to date been watched by more than 5 million people. I’m afraid this makes it near impossible for me to weed out this confusion, but at least now you can’t blame me for not even trying... (MORE - missing details)