Thanks to ridiculous CO2 emitting Hummers and pollution from industries, the greatest environmental challenge our nation faces is global warming. As rising temperatures are too significant to ignore, it is urgent for our government, researchers, and communities to unite and combat global warming together. Those (mostly conservatives of course) who remain skeptical or simply deny the issue of global warming must stop their ignorance and start contributing to a solution. There is an abundance of evidence, such as the melting of glaciers and rising sea levels, to prove that global warming will be a massive problem in the future if it is not controlled now. Scientists, Mihai Dima and Gerrit Lohmann, of the Alfred Wegener Institute of Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany have presented another approach to global warming that seeks for the reasons behind the many climate changes over the last century.
They have investigated the involvement of thermohaline circulation (THC) in abrupt climate changes. THC, or the global ocean circulation system, is controlled by density differences in sea water, which is dependent on temperature (thermal) and salinity (haline). The damaged THC is essential in connecting ocean circulation changes to climate changes. Dima and Lohmann have investigated two separate global sea surface temperature datasets and created corresponding THC-related modes. These modes demonstrate “that the global conveyor has been weakening since the late 1930s and that the North Atlantic overturning cell suffered an abrupt shift around 1970.” The authors' development of these two modes offers a new and exciting approach to exploring past rapid climate changes.
One dataset studied by Dima and Lohmann is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration extended reconstructed SST version 3 (ERSST.v3). This database is an updated version from Smith and Reynolds’, with improved low-frequency (LF) tuning and infrared data from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Pathfinder day and night satellite SST observations.
The second dataset analyzed is the Hadley Centre Sea Ice and Sea Surface Temperature (HadISST) dataset, replacing the global sea ice and sea surface temperature (GISST) dataset. The Met Office Marine Data Bank (MDB), who receives information through the Global Telecommunications System, provides HadISST with monthly fields of SST and sea ice concentration on a 1° x 1° grid including data over the 1870-2006. I'm sure the innocent polar bears and penguins of Antarctica would appreciate some answers from this data!
From these two datasets, Dima and Lohmann created two distinct modes; the global mode (G) and the Atlantic mode (A). The G mode has localized centers while the A mode has extended regions. Forcing for THC is used to determine which mode is excited. A pulsing force indicates mode A is excited. While a persistent force indicates mode A in NA THC is first excited, and then the force extends to the entire conveyor and the G mode is exciting. With these implications, Dima and Lohann infer that mode A represents rapid climate change while mode G represents long-term forcing. This is great news for researchers looking for ways to reduce human contributions to global warming. They can compare our greenhouse emission figures to the extent of damage caused, and get a better idea of how much of a pressing and serious issue global warming is. Maybe then our world will become inspired to treat our environment with respect.
Dima and Lohann conclude that mode A and G explain the THC weakening trend due to global warming and the NA THC shift of the 1970s. They also believe that the modes can be used to investigate current THC trends and predict climate changes of the future. Their research has been a fundamental step in the study of climate change and will most certainly be beneficial for future generations.
The truth is that global warming is happening. For those who are as concerned about global warming as I am, this study has provided another method of investigating the climate. We all should be hopeful that with the help of these observations, our government and communities can work together to make the right decisions and end the war on global warming; after all, we have enough war to worry about as it is!
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