Transcript Michael - Thermohaline Circulation

The Thermohaline Circulation
and Climate Change
Michael P. Erb
The Thermohaline Circulation
Younger Dryas
Glacial Lake Agassiz
“Simulated Tropical Response to a Substantial Weakening of the Atlantic Thermohaline
Circulation” – Zhang & Delworth 2005 Journal of Climate
Climate Model Experiment: an extra freshwater forcing of 0.6 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3s-1) is uniformly
distributed over the North Atlantic for 60 years
“Simulated Tropical Response to a Substantial Weakening of the Atlantic Thermohaline
Circulation” – Zhang & Delworth 2005 Journal of Climate
Climate Model Experiment: an extra freshwater forcing of 0.6 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3s-1) is uniformly
distributed over the North Atlantic for 60 years
Plate Tectonics can affect the Thermohaline
Circulation, too.
Around 3 million years ago the Isthmus of Panama formed, cutting off the mixing of
water between the Atlantic and Pacific and forcing ocean circulations to reorganize.
Professional Papers
•
Haug, G. H., and R. Tiedemann, 1998. Effect of the formation of the Isthmus of
Panama on Atlantic Ocean thermohaline circulation. Nature, 393, 673-676.
•
Teller, J. T., D. W. Leverington, and J. D. Mann, 2002. Freshwater outbursts to the
oceans from glacial Lake Agassiz and their role in climate change during the last
deglaciation. Quaternary Science Reviews, 21, 879-887.
•
Weaver, A. J., O. A. Saenko, P. U. Clark, and A. X. Mitrovika, 2003. Meltwater Pulso
1A from Antarctica as a Trigger of the Bolling-Allerod Warm Interval. Science, 299,
1709-1713.
•
Zhang, R., and T. L. Delworth, 2005. Simulated Tropical Response to a Substantial
Weakening of the Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation. Journal of Climate, 18, 18531860.