Thermohaline circulations and global climate change

Technical Report · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1992

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7160995· OSTI ID:7160995

Hanson, H P

This report discusses research activities conducted during the period 15 January 1992--14 December 1992. Thermohaline Circulations and Global Climate Change is concerned with investigating the hypothesis that changes in surface thermal and hydrological forcing of the North Atlantic, changes that might be expected to accompany C0[sub 2]-induced global warming, could result in ocean-atmosphere interactions' exerting a positive feedback on the climate system. Because the North Atlantic is the source of much of the global ocean's reservoir of deep water, and because this deep water could sequester large amounts of anthropogenically produced C0[sub 2], changes in the rate of deep-water production are important to future climates. Since deep-water Production is controlled, in part, by the annual cycle of the atmospheric forcing of the North Atlantic, and since this forcing depends strongly on both hydrological and thermal processes as well as the windstress, there is the potential for feedback between the relatively short-term response of the atmosphere to changing radiative forcing and the longer-term processes in the oceans. Work over the past 11 months has proceeded according to the continuation discussion of last January and several new results have arisen.

• Research Organization: Colorado Univ., Boulder, CO (United States). Cooperative Inst. for Research in Environmental Sciences
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: FG02-90ER61019
• OSTI ID: 7160995
• Report Number(s): DOE/ER/61019-3; ON: DE93004601
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
540140 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Thermal Effluents Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
540340* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Thermal Effluents Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
AIR-WATER INTERACTIONS
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CLIMATES
CLIMATIC CHANGE
DOCUMENT TYPES
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
GENERAL CIRCULATION MODELS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
OCEANIC CIRCULATION
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PROGRESS REPORT
SALINITY
SEAS
SURFACE WATERS