2010/11/28

Themohaline Currents (THC) and CO2 - A thought


Some of the increased CO2 gets dissolved in the water (making it less alkaline).
At the poles this gets pulled into the ocean depths by the THC.It then travels for around a 1000 years to reappear on the surface elsewhere (See map). After another 1000 years it is back where it started but with a higher concentration of CO2 dissolved

Are we in a benign period where our pollution is being hidden from us by the THC? Will future generations then have to cope with our mess?
Will we be seeing the results of the 1st industrial revolution emerging from the depths soon?

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And further thoughts on THC and heat storage/release
If sst is increasing.


If there is a thermohaline circulation (cool salty water sinking in the arctic).

If the THC is surface warm traveling to arctic and cold traveling at 2000 to 4000 metres down towards antarctic (arrival time 700 years?).

If Argo dives to 2000 metres they will not see the antarctic traveling THC.

“Estimates of Meridional Atmosphere and Ocean Heat Transports Kevin E. Trenberth and Julie M. Caron” suggest 1.27± 0.26 PW of heat is carried by THC north



If you heat the north going surface layer which then sinks warmer and travels south at below 2000 metres warmer this must surely be a good hiding place for a fair bit of missing TSI energy! (for a few hundred years)



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