With so many instruments on the Yahtse, researchers have a unique opportunity to monitor changes along the length of the glacier and discover how, for example,
local changes in ocean temperature and currents relate to movement further up the glacier.
Previous research has shown that global warming will
cause changes in ocean temperatures, sea ice extent, salinity, and oxygen levels, among other impacts, that are likely to lead to significant shifts in the distribution range and productivity of marine species, the study notes.
This showed that the eastbound trip might be 10 minutes shorter, the westbound trip was 11 minutes longer, and most of this difference could be accounted for by natural cycles based
on changes in ocean temperatures.
- I remember discussions (particularly at RC) about him claiming that you could «see the heat moving» and actually estimate the fluxes just by looking
at changes in ocean temperature.
Because of the different heat capacity of the oceans and the atmosphere — the amount of energy which would heat the atmosphere by 1 K (Kelvin) will only heat the oceans by 0.001 K. Any lack of warming of the troposphere can be excused by a
minuscule change in ocean temperature.
Barnett et al. «Penetration of Human - Induced Warming into the World's Oceans» (Science, Vol 309, Issue 5732, 284 - 287, 8 July 2005) «A new study has found a «compelling agreement» between
observed changes in ocean temperatures since 1960 and the changes simulated by two climate models under rising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases.
Scientists have long known that corals are the unwitting record - keepers of the deep, chronicling
minute changes in ocean temperature, salinity, chemistry and even sea levels as they slowly grow and add to their calcium - carbonate skeletons.
So if 93 % of the change forced by the alleged human climate influence has only produced a temperature change of hundredths to tenths of a °C in the deep oceans since 1955, or since CO2 concentrations rose by about 75 parts per million (315 ppm in 1955 to 390 ppm in 2010), this would clearly indicate that it is extremely difficult if not effectively impossible to confidently attribute the practically
imperceptible change in ocean temperature to anthropogenic CO2 emissions, or to CO2 in general.
More succinctly, if deep ocean temperatures can naturally rise by 1 °C in 100 years without any change in CO2, then
attributing changes in ocean temperature that are already «below the detection limit» for the last 200 years (or just ~ 0.1 °C since 1955) to anthropogenic CO2 forcing is highly presumptuous at best.
Previous research has shown that global warming will
cause changes in ocean temperatures, sea ice extent, salinity, and oxygen levels, among other impacts, that are likely to lead to shifts in the range and productivity of marine species.
«All these analyses of ocean heat content are interpreting
small changes in ocean temperature, and it will need to be picked over and repeated by others before being fully accepted,» said Professor Andrew Watson, head of the Marine and Atmospheric Science group at the University of Exeter, UK.
Possible mechanisms include (vii)
changes in ocean temperature (and salinity), (viii) suppression of air - sea gas exchange by sea ice, and (ix) increased stratification in the Southern Ocean.
Those changes in ocean temperatures are accompanied by changes in the atmosphere: During El Niño, convection and rains shift eastward and the normal east - to - west trade winds weaken or even reverse, while during La Niña, the normal dry state of the eastern Pacific intensifies along with the trade winds.
What about the cracks in the ocean floor which expose deeper deposits to
changes in ocean temperature?
Today's 1 °F (0.5 °C)
change in ocean temperatures should correspond to about a one percent increase in hurricane strength, which is too small for modern instruments to detect, according to Landsea.
In some locations,
changes in ocean temperatures and atmospheric patterns brought about by El Niño lead to drier conditions, which increases the damage during «fire season».
Mei, W. et al. (2015) Northwestern Pacific typhoon intensity controlled by
changes in ocean temperatures, Science Advances, doi: 10.1126 / sciadv.1500014