Ian Bradford: The Importance of the Oceans with Regard to Weather and Climate

A couple of articles ago I wrote about the slowing of the Gulf Stream. We need to back-track about 12,000 years in the Earth’s history, when the Gulf Stream not only slowed but actually came to a stop.

The Gulf Stream is part of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a vast system of ocean currents that transport warm salty water from the tropics northward and colder denser water southward. This circulation pattern is essential for moderating the climate of the North Atlantic region, bringing mild winters to Europe and influencing weather patterns across the globe.

Approximately 12,000 years ago the Earth was beginning to warm after being in an ice age. Quite suddenly, temperatures plummeted again. This sudden change occurred in less than 100 years. It was a period called the Younger Dryas after a flower found at that time - Dryas Octopetalia. Temperatures in the Northern Europe dropped by 5 deg C . The Younger Dryas was characterised by cooler average temperatures that returned parts of Europe and North America to ice age conditions. This period persisted for about 1,300 years after which rapid warming occurred. Ice core samples from Greenland suggest that local temperatures increased by up to 10 deg C in just a few decades.

So, two points to take from this. The AMOC influences weather patterns across the globe, and after the Younger Dryas cold spell, the temperature increased by up to 10 deg C in only a few decades - WITHOUT THE HELP FROM HUMANS!

The reason for this slowing of the Gulf Stream at the time was put forward by Finnish scientists Claes Ruth and later, American climatologist Wallace Broeker. They postulated that large amounts of fresh water were discharged into the North Atlantic about 12,800 years ago. This influx of fresh water stopped the more dense sea water in the North Atlantic from descending to the depths, thereby interrupting the thermohaline circulation.

The Younger Dryas had a profound effect on weather and climate at the time. The period resulted in a significant decline in the growing season, much colder winters and cooler springs, yet not much change during summer. DRYAS WAS THE TIME OF EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS, INCLUDING ENORMOUS FIRES AND EXTREME WEATHER WHICH CAUSED HAVOC THROUGHOUT ENTIRE COUNTRIES. These climatic changes were so severe they left clear markers in ice cores, lake sediments, and archaeological layers worldwide.

The Younger Dryas also led to changes in precipitation patterns, with cooler areas experiencing lower rainfall and warmer areas receiving more precipitation. These climatic changes had profound effects on the environment, including the return of ice sheets and glaciers, shifts in vegetation and alterations in ecosystems. The Younger Dryas is a clear example of how abrupt climatic changes can reshape the Earth’s weather and climate systems.

So we can take from this that the slowing/stopping of the Gulf Stream caused extreme weather events.

Back to the present. Many scientists think the Gulf Stream has been slowing for the past 40 years or more. It is an integral part of AMOC. It may potentially come to a halt. These scientists link the slowing with an influx of fresh water as in the Younger Dryas. Naturally, climate alarmists say global warming due to human activities is causing the ice to melt in Greenland and Iceland. Since 2008, scientists Hugh Corr and David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey indicate that volcanoes underneath the Antarctic may be melting the continent’s ice sheet from below. In a previous article I indicated that the undersea volcano discovered by Japanese scientists was melting Iceland from below.

In 2017, Scottish scientists detected 91 volcanoes under a massive ice sheet in West Antarctica. The volcanoes are located in the West Antarctic Rift System, a 2,200 mile valley created by separating tectonic plates. The discovery brings the total number of volcanoes in the region to 138. Many of these volcanoes are active and are certainly hot enough to melt the ice.

The slowing of the Gulf Stream may be a major factor influencing the unusual weather events we have been seeing lately.

The slowing of the Gulf Stream is not the only change occurring in the oceans at present.

Off the coast of Western Australia, the Southern Indian Ocean is becoming much less salty at an alarming rate. This tendency to move to fresh water may have effects on global ocean circulation and marine ecosystems. Changes here could eventually affect the whole planet. Over the past 60 years, wind patterns have changed across the Indian and Pacific oceans. These winds are pushing more freshwater from the Indo-Pacific freshwater pool into the Southern Indian Ocean.

The Indo-Pacific freshwater pool is a vast region of low salinity ocean water located between the Western Pacific and Eastern Indian oceans. It forms where rainfall is higher than evaporation, making surface waters less salty. There are also strong river inputs bringing in more than usual fresh water. This pool plays a vital role in regulating global ocean circulation and climate systems. Recent research indicates that the freshwater pool has been expanding due to freshwater transported from the Pacific into the Indian Ocean. Climate alarmists blame global warming for the wind changes. The pool contains the warmest surface oceans waters, (around 28 deg C), making it a major source of heat and moisture to the atmosphere. The pool has been growing warmer and expanding in size since 1900. So it was warming and growing till at least 1950 without help from humans. This warming and expansion is driving changes in the climate and in regional rainfall around the globe.

The growth of the Indo-Pacific freshwater pool from 1900 to 1980

Salinity plays a large role in the movement of the ocean currents. Ocean currents are essential for regulating the Earth’s climate. They help distribute heat and nutrients around the globe. Salt affects the sea waters’ density. When freshwater decreases the salinity the water becomes less dense and so stays near the surface instead of sinking to the depths. This stops vertical mixing, which is important for bringing nutrients from the deep up to the surface . As a result, surface ecosystems might struggle.

The Southern Indian Ocean plays a critical role in the global thermohaline circulation. This regulates the climate, moving heat and nutrients between ocean basins. If salinity continues to drop, it could disrupt this system affecting ocean currents and climate patterns worldwide. This freshening could even extend to the Atlantic Ocean, weakening currents that regulate climate in regions like Europe and North America. So the interconnection between oceans means that changes to one part can have widespread impacts.

Underwater Thermal Activities

Apart from the sun’s energy, the Earth’s underwater thermal activities release heat to the ocean and significantly affect the climate. The perception by researchers is that all heat absorbed by the oceans comes from the sun. However, more than 70% of all volcanic eruptions occur underwater. (D. Hall, 2018). The number of underwater volcanoes and active vents is not known at this stage, but there may be many thousands.

There are three main sources of heat in the deep Earth. One source is heat from when the planet was formed, some of which it not yet lost. More dense material is slowly sinking towards the centre of the planet causing friction. Another is heat from the decay of radioactive elements.

Nearer the surface, the Earth’s inner heat comes from underwater volcanoes, geothermal underwater activities, and movement of the North Magnetic pole. The mid ocean ridges are volcanic mountain chains some more than 40, 000 km long. The result of these underwater activities is the heating of the oceans. Hotter lava passes on heat energy to the cooler water. Sensitive temperature probes moving continuously across the bottom of a previously unknown volcano off the coast of Antarctica showed geothermal heating of sea water.

Changes in climate are not caused only by conditions in the atmosphere. The top few metres of an ocean can store as much heat as the whole atmosphere, and relatively small changes in ocean circulation can mover vast amounts of heat around the planet. (Stevens 2006). Why is this? It is because liquid water has very high specific heat, compared to common substances.

The specific heat of water is approximately 4.2 KJ/Kg/deg C

What does this mean? It takes 4.2 Kilo joules of energy to heat 1Kg of water by 1 deg C.

On the other hand, the specific heat of air is only 1.0 KJ/Kg/degC

So it takes only 1.0KJ of energy to raise the temperature of 1Kg of air by 1 deg C

This means 1Kg water contains about 3500 times as much heat as a Kg of air.

A small fluctuation in the temperature of the ocean caused say by the eruption of two or three underwater volcanoes can cause significant changes in the temperature of the atmosphere.

At this point in time, we do not know just how any underwater volcanoes, vents, chimneys etc there are. This suggests building a reliable computer model that is supposed to predict climate is in vain.

Ian Bradford, a science graduate, is a former teacher, lawyer, farmer and keen sportsman, who is writing a book about the fraud of anthropogenic climate change.