Climate change may be driving increases in many ocean current speeds

[Mike OReilly]

All very interesting, but the point is that most ocean currents have increased in speed over the last few decades, and this research suggests it may be driven by our rapidly changing climate.

Regardless of cause, cruisers are directly affected by these changes. Much like shifting seasonal weather patterns, also likely driven by rapid climate change, these things have a direct bearing on boaters who travel distance.

[c.K.]

Originally Posted by Pirate1221

I find it interesting that the hair on fire climate radicals are buying ocean front property. Relax people...

great answer!

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by c.K.

great answer!

What was the question ?

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by c.K.

great answer!

Please explain your response.

[GordMay]

FWIW: I just read something interesting, about weather in England:

The Archbishop of Canterbury, and The Royal Commission for Political Correctness, announced today that the climate in the UK should no longer be referred to as 'English Weather'.

In order to no longer offend a sizable portion of the UK population, it will now be referred to as 'Muslim Weather':
ie: partly Sunni, but mostly Shi'ite.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by GordMay

In order to no longer offend a sizable portion of the UK population, it will now be referred to as 'Muslim Weather':
ie: partly Sunni, but mostly Shi'ite.

[letsgetsailing3]

Odd that John D. Rockefeller wouldn't make the philanthropy list.


I guess it's all about the criteria.


https://www.challies.com/articles/th...d-rockefeller/

[GordMay]

Researchers at the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) in Barcelona have found that global warming is accelerating the water cycle, which could have significant consequences on the global climate system, according to an article published recently in the journal Scientific Reports [1].

This acceleration of the water cycle is caused by an increase in the evaporation of water, from the seas and oceans, resulting from the rise in temperature. As a result, more water is circulating in the atmosphere in its vapor form, 90% of which will eventually precipitate back into the sea, while the remaining 10% will precipitate over the continent.

The work also shows that the decrease in the wind, in some areas of the ocean, which favors stratification of the water column (water not mixing in the vertical direction), could also be contributing to the acceleration of the water cycle.

Where the wind is no longer so strong, the surface water warms up, but does not exchange heat with the water below, allowing the surface to become more saline than the lower layers, and enabling the effect of evaporation to be observed with satellite measurements. In this sense, this tells us that the atmosphere and the ocean interact in a stronger way than we imagined, with important consequences for the continental and polar areas.

They have been able to see that surface salinity is showing an intensification of the water cycle, that subsurface salinity does not. Specifically, in the Pacific we have seen that surface salinity decreases more slowly than subsurface salinity and, in this same region, we have observed an increase in sea surface temperature and a decrease in the intensity of winds and the depth of the mixing layer.

This circulation basically depends on the water density, which is determined by its temperature, and salinity. Therefore, changes in these two parameters, however small they may be, can end up having important consequences on the global climate, which makes it key to monitor them closely.

[1] “Increasing stratification as observed by satellite sea surface salinity measurements” ~ by Estrella Olmedo et al
➥ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-10265-1

See also:

Researchers at the Barcelona Expert Center (BEC) of the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) have proved that satellite-derived salinity improves marine circulation prediction in the Arctic, which, as in the rest of the planet, is directly influenced by this and other parameters such as temperature.
Seawater salinity is a parameter that depends on precipitation, evaporation, river discharges and ice melt, and has a direct effect on the climate. Together with temperature, it determines the density of the water which, in turn, drives global ocean circulation, and regulates the Earth's climate. However, measuring it in situ is not easy, especially in areas as remote and difficult to access as the Arctic Ocean, which is why the information provided by satellites is so valuable.

“Improved BEC SMOS Arctic Sea Surface Salinity product v3.1" ~ by Justino Martínez et al
➥ https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/14/307/2022/

[billgewater]

Yes. Climate change may make for interesting real estate water front price movements. But the problem of climate change has much greater ramifications here in Aus. We have more frequent dangerous fires and currently more frequent and more damaging flooding. The outcome is an enormous increase in insurance premiums for many hundreds of thousands of property owners.
To remain on topic, one might say it is a "current" event. Sorry.

[newhaul]

Interesting I shall have to study all relevant data this week.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by GordMay

It’s true that Bill Gates [for instance] bought a beachfront house, in danger from sea level rise … but, come on. It's Bill Gates.

He's 67 years old [born in 1955]. Sea level rise is a major threat to many population centres, but we're still talking centimetres per decade, and he won't be around many decades from now.
The Pacific Ocean has risen about 30cm since 1990, so on average, about 1cm/year. Assuming the ocean rising speed continues the way it has, he probably has a couple hundred years. Of course the speed in which the ocean is rising won’t stay the same, but even if the speed is doubled, you’re looking at more than 40 years [he'd be 107 Y/O].
Are you concerned about flooding in your house when you're long dead? If so … well, I see no reason to assume that Gates shares your weird hang-up.

You may not know this, but he's really rich. Really, really rich.

If sea level rise accelerated fantastically, he could probably afford to live in a seaside mansion, and buy a new one every year, as the last one flooded.
While a house is the most expensive object you, or I, may ever own, in our lives, and buying a house will be one of the 3 biggest decisions we will ever make; to Bill Gates a house [by the ocean] is as disposable as toilet paper. He could buy a new one every month, for the rest of his life, and still never run out of money.

Why would anyone buy a sports car worth more than $100,000 USD [or $1,000,000]. They are highly impractical, expensive in maintenance, and in most countries, you are not allowed (or able) to use them to their full potential. From a rational point of view, they are a waste of money.

So, what does a really, really rich guy, making a poor VERY, VERY long-term investment, for LIFESTYLE, say about any scientific fact?

There there are the Obamas they recently purchased the famous TV property of Magnum Pi the Robin's nest on the north shore to build their own new compound . But at 60 I guess he's not worried about it anymore .

[Mike OReilly]

I did not mean this to become yet another endless religious debate about climate change and its causes. If you're one of the same old voices, how about you NOT engage just this one time -- please.

Whatever the cause, most global currents are measured to be increasing. This is relevant to cruisers who travel across oceans, or who explore medium-range off the coasts. How about we discuss that, instead of engaging in the normal pissing matches.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by GordMay

FWIW: I just read something interesting, about weather in England:

The Archbishop of Canterbury, and The Royal Commission for Political Correctness, announced today that the climate in the UK should no longer be referred to as 'English Weather'.

In order to no longer offend a sizable portion of the UK population, it will now be referred to as 'Muslim Weather':
ie: partly Sunni, but mostly Shi'ite.

Ok...Where's the PC police?!

[GordMay]

See also:

Arctic Ice Melt Is Changing Ocean Currents
A major ocean current in the Arctic is faster and more turbulent as a result of rapid sea ice melt, a 2020 study [1], from NASA, shows. The current is part of a delicate Arctic environment that is now flooded with fresh water, an effect of human-caused climate change.
Using 12 years of satellite data, scientists have measured how this circular current, called the Beaufort Gyre, has precariously balanced an influx of unprecedented amounts of cold, fresh water — a change that could alter the currents in the Atlantic Ocean and cool the climate of Western Europe.
More about ➥ https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2950/a...cean-currents/

[1]“Enhanced eddy activity in the Beaufort Gyre in response to sea ice loss” ~ by Thomas W. K. Armitage et al
➥ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14449-z

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by GordMay

See also:

Arctic Ice Melt Is Changing Ocean Currents
A major ocean current in the Arctic is faster and more turbulent as a result of rapid sea ice melt, a 2020 study [1], from NASA, shows. The current is part of a delicate Arctic environment that is now flooded with fresh water, an effect of human-caused climate change.
Using 12 years of satellite data, scientists have measured how this circular current, called the Beaufort Gyre, has precariously balanced an influx of unprecedented amounts of cold, fresh water — a change that could alter the currents in the Atlantic Ocean and cool the climate of Western Europe.
More about ➥ https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2950/a...cean-currents/

[1]“Enhanced eddy activity in the Beaufort Gyre in response to sea ice loss” ~ by Thomas W. K. Armitage et al
➥ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14449-z

The biggie here is the fact that the Beaufort gyre normally changes rotation about every 10 to 12 years for a short period expelling some of the fresher sea water but this has not happened and we are about 2.5 cycles in with no change . The gyre switches and there goes the global ocean conveyor . It will definatel6 slow if not stall . And there goes the temperate western Europe. Little e ice age here we go.

It will happen the only question is when.