Climate Change: Greenland Antarctica
by Israel Rafalovich
Brussels - Although Greenland and Antarctica are at opposite sides of the planet their climate seems to be linked by a ocean current.
A new study sheds light on man-made climate change, as it implies that Antarctica's ice could start to melt because of localised warming in the far North Atlantic.
The glacial climate in the Northern Atlantic can swing extraordinarily rapidly, with temperatures rising by between eight and 16 degree Celsius, within the space of a few decades, at the end of each Ice Age and falling back but - more slowly - when the next Ice Age beckons.
Translation: what happens at one end of the Atlantic has a huge effect on the other, although at different time scales and different ways.
The cause appears to be conveyor-belt of ocean flows.
The lead author of the new study, Mr. Hubertus Fischer of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven, Germany says that their data shows that the degree of warming in the South in linearly related to the duration of cold periods in the North Atlantic.
Understanding this link sheds light on a troubling aspect about man-made global warming -- the fate of Antarctica, where the world's biggest store of frozen water is held.
Today, Antarctica is still a reservoir of cold, this could change, as some studies are suggesting, if the Meridional Overturning Current(MOC) is beginning to falter.
In a related matter, the European Commission has welcomed the measures that were adopted by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Living Marine Resources, in Hobart, Australia, to fight illegal fishing in the Antarctic area.
This is the first time a Regional Fisheries Management Organisation had adopted such comprehensive measures that are binding upon all members. The scheme is not limited to the capture phase, but covers the whole chain of fishing activity, including transshipment, transport and marketing.
Israel Rafalovich
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report
Please also see:
Ocean current links northern and southern hemisphere in ice age
http://www.awi-bremerhaven.de/AWI/Presse/PM/pm06-2.hj/061109EDML-e.html
The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)
http://www.awi-bremerhaven.de/index-e.html
by Israel Rafalovich
Brussels - Although Greenland and Antarctica are at opposite sides of the planet their climate seems to be linked by a ocean current.
A new study sheds light on man-made climate change, as it implies that Antarctica's ice could start to melt because of localised warming in the far North Atlantic.
The glacial climate in the Northern Atlantic can swing extraordinarily rapidly, with temperatures rising by between eight and 16 degree Celsius, within the space of a few decades, at the end of each Ice Age and falling back but - more slowly - when the next Ice Age beckons.
Translation: what happens at one end of the Atlantic has a huge effect on the other, although at different time scales and different ways.
The cause appears to be conveyor-belt of ocean flows.
The lead author of the new study, Mr. Hubertus Fischer of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven, Germany says that their data shows that the degree of warming in the South in linearly related to the duration of cold periods in the North Atlantic.
Understanding this link sheds light on a troubling aspect about man-made global warming -- the fate of Antarctica, where the world's biggest store of frozen water is held.
Today, Antarctica is still a reservoir of cold, this could change, as some studies are suggesting, if the Meridional Overturning Current(MOC) is beginning to falter.
In a related matter, the European Commission has welcomed the measures that were adopted by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Living Marine Resources, in Hobart, Australia, to fight illegal fishing in the Antarctic area.
This is the first time a Regional Fisheries Management Organisation had adopted such comprehensive measures that are binding upon all members. The scheme is not limited to the capture phase, but covers the whole chain of fishing activity, including transshipment, transport and marketing.
Israel Rafalovich
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report
Please also see:
Ocean current links northern and southern hemisphere in ice age
http://www.awi-bremerhaven.de/AWI/Presse/PM/pm06-2.hj/061109EDML-e.html
The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)
http://www.awi-bremerhaven.de/index-e.html