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Friday, October 27, 2006

Rapid climate change a reality


If we continue unabated with a culture of consumption and the pollution it brings, we could have breached the environmental tipping points built into the planet that once breached only magnify the climate change. Rapid cataclysmic climate change has the potential to plunge the planet into an ice age, and scientists studying the desalination effect on ocean currents fear that historical evidence shows such rapid climate change can occur within a decade. The reality is grim, if we do nothing we could see the end of the planet within our life time.

Ocean array acts as climate alert
Measurements from a network of monitors stretching across the Atlantic Ocean could offer an early warning of "sudden climate change", scientists have said.
Underwater instruments measuring the temperature and salinity of seawater will detect any change to currents that regulate Europe's climate, they said.

A UK-led team of researchers said the data offered the most detailed picture of the ocean's circulation patterns.

He said the findings demonstrated that they were able to monitor changes, and act as an alert to any sudden shifts in the ocean circulation that could have a profound impact on the UK's and north-west Europe's climate.

"The ice core records suggest sudden warming or cooling happen on a scale of about a decade. The timescale for temperature change, which are in the order of 5-10C (9-18F), also happen in about a 10-year period," he explained.

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