Bring Back NAWAPA and Save Europe!

Yesterday, on the BBC web site, I saw a science item about how the Gulf
Stream was flowing more slowly...

because Arctic rivers are flowing faster, putting more fresh water in
the Arctic Ocean,

and decreasing its salinity!

I thought the climatic consequences of diverting arctic rivers south
were supposed to be catastrophic - which is why the U.S. talked Russia
out of diverting some rivers flowing into the Arctic - but it now seems
as though they would be beneficial. As long as it is done in moderation.

John Savard
http://home.ecn.ab.ca/~jsavard/index.html
http://www.quadibloc.com/index.html
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In article ,
John Savard wrote:
Yesterday, on the BBC web site, I saw a science item about how the Gulf
Stream was flowing more slowly...

because Arctic rivers are flowing faster, putting more fresh water in
the Arctic Ocean,

and decreasing its salinity!

I thought the climatic consequences of diverting arctic rivers south
were supposed to be catastrophic - which is why the U.S. talked Russia
out of diverting some rivers flowing into the Arctic - but it now seems
as though they would be beneficial. As long as it is done in moderation.

If I recall the article, heat transfer due to the Gulf Stream
declined by 30% between the early and the late 1990s. It's not like mile
thick glaciers are waiting off-stage to belly flop onto Europe if the
Gulf Stream stalls but it could (again, if I recall correctly) cause
Europe to get about five degrees cooler, which would be somewhat
inconvenient for them.




--
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http://www.livejournal.com/users/james_nicoll

On Fri, 2 Dec 2005 16:38:38 +0000 (UTC), in a place far, far away,
(James Nicoll) made the phosphor on my monitor glow
in such a way as to indicate that:

In article ,
John Savard wrote:
Yesterday, on the BBC web site, I saw a science item about how the Gulf
Stream was flowing more slowly...

because Arctic rivers are flowing faster, putting more fresh water in
the Arctic Ocean,

and decreasing its salinity!

I thought the climatic consequences of diverting arctic rivers south
were supposed to be catastrophic - which is why the U.S. talked Russia
out of diverting some rivers flowing into the Arctic - but it now seems
as though they would be beneficial. As long as it is done in moderation.

If I recall the article, heat transfer due to the Gulf Stream
declined by 30% between the early and the late 1990s. It's not like mile
thick glaciers are waiting off-stage to belly flop onto Europe if the
Gulf Stream stalls

Glaciers are made, not "waiting." And it can happen pretty quickly
(just a few decades) once a cool cycle begins.

John Savard wrote:
Yesterday, on the BBC web site, I saw a science item about how the Gulf
Stream was flowing more slowly...

because Arctic rivers are flowing faster, putting more fresh water in
the Arctic Ocean,

and decreasing its salinity!
Appearantly then we get a climate like canada. Something I always liked to have...

Lots of Greetings!
Volker

In article ,
Volker Hetzer wrote:
Appearantly then we get a climate like canada. Something I always liked
to have...

Do feel free to visit and take ours back with you -- it's not like most
Canadians are all that fond of it. :-)

However, if memory serves, the effects of even a full shutdown of the Gulf
Stream are often exaggerated. The prevailing winds would still be from
the west, so Western Europe would still have a maritime climate -- rather
warmer and wetter than the continental climate that most of Canada has --
even if the water offshore were substantially colder. The Canadian West
Coast has, well, a rather European climate, even though it *doesn't* have
a warm current offshore. (It gets the North Pacific Current, which comes
roughly straight east from the Asian coast rather than coming north from
warmer parts.)
--
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On Sat, 3 Dec 2005 21:35:38 GMT, (Henry Spencer)
wrote, in part:
In article ,
Volker Hetzer wrote:

Appearantly then we get a climate like canada. Something I always liked
to have...

Do feel free to visit and take ours back with you -- it's not like most
Canadians are all that fond of it. :-)

At least, though, Canada has a much lower population density than
Europe, so we can feed ourselves well with the food we can manage to
grow in such a climate.

John Savard
http://home.ecn.ab.ca/~jsavard/index.html
http://www.quadibloc.com/index.html
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"Henry Spencer" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Volker Hetzer wrote:
Appearantly then we get a climate like canada. Something I always liked
to have...

Do feel free to visit and take ours back with you -- it's not like most
Canadians are all that fond of it. :-)

Oh come on Henry, most Canadians are so fond of their climate they live as
far south as they can, without actually having to pay US taxes. :-)

--
spsystems.net is temporarily off the air; | Henry Spencer
mail to henry at zoo.utoronto.ca instead. |

On Sat, 03 Dec 2005 23:35:21 GMT, "Greg D. Moore \(Strider\)"
wrote, in part:

Oh come on Henry, most Canadians are so fond of their climate they live as
far south as they can, without actually having to pay US taxes. :-)

Our taxes are higher...

John Savard
http://home.ecn.ab.ca/~jsavard/index.html
http://www.quadibloc.com/index.html
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(James Nicoll) wrote:

:In article ,
:John Savard wrote:
:Yesterday, on the BBC web site, I saw a science item about how the Gulf
:Stream was flowing more slowly...
:
:because Arctic rivers are flowing faster, putting more fresh water in
:the Arctic Ocean,
:
:and decreasing its salinity!
:
:I thought the climatic consequences of diverting arctic rivers south
:were supposed to be catastrophic - which is why the U.S. talked Russia
:out of diverting some rivers flowing into the Arctic - but it now seems
:as though they would be beneficial. As long as it is done in moderation.
:
: If I recall the article, heat transfer due to the Gulf Stream
:declined by 30% between the early and the late 1990s. It's not like mile
:thick glaciers are waiting off-stage to belly flop onto Europe if the
:Gulf Stream stalls but it could (again, if I recall correctly) cause
:Europe to get about five degrees cooler, which would be somewhat
:inconvenient for them.

Note that this is probably a bit more than 'inconvenient', since we're
talking about AVERAGE temperatures. Five degrees is within a degree
or so of what it takes for the glaciers to march south again.

A lot of Europe will look like Northern Canada - cold and largely
uninhabited.

--
"Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the balls to
live in the real world." -- Mary Shafer, NASA Dryden