I remember in an inconvenient truth Al Gore said that flooding from Greenland could totally screw up the conveyor belt system in the Atlantic and as a result change the climate in Europe.
I found this website claiming that the BP oil spill did the same thing already, but I haven’t found any other sites or new sites that corroborate the story.
I don’t know how much stock I’d put in this article, but has anyone heard any other organizations saying the same thing about the BP spill and the conveyor system?
IANAScientist but I’d be shocked if the oil spill could mess up the ocean conveyor. Big as it was it is a drop in the proverbial bucket compared to the conveyor.
The Greenland thing was a worry because it represents a truly colossal amount of fresh water being thrown in the ocean which they feared could mess things up. All the oil spilled comes nowhere close to those amounts.
Why not?
The loop current varies wildly from year to year and month to month. Anyone suggesting permanent changes in it based on, at most, a couple of months of data, is nuts.
He did pick an appropriate title didn’t he? Republicans (read oil complany supporters) just refuse to admit fossil fuels do any damage, as the cash keeps rolling in.
This is new to me. I don’t see how the spill would effect the conveyor belt. It does nothing to the volume and does not change the temperature. It just poisons the water.
The link in the OP tells us about the shocking, earth-shattering fact that the Gulf loop current has broken off and formed an eddy. Squink’s link tells us how that happens every 6 to 11 months. So, my money is on No Ice Age.
If Greenland were to melt, however, there is a concern all that cold, fresh water would mess with the Gulf Stream. Not sure it would cause an ice age, but it certainly would affect the climate in Europe. Totally separate issue, though.