| Popis: |
The Gulf Stream is notoriously known for the usurpated role it is supposed to play for mildening the climate of Western Europe. That brings the frequently asked question about the possible climate change that would occur if its flow happens to vanish. The Gulf Stream is forced by the wind, more precisely by the Azores anticyclonic subtropical circulation. For Gulf Stream to stop implies the Azores anticyclone itself has vanished and this would imply much more drastic changes than climatic. However Gulf Stream plays a role in the Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC), sometime called the "Conveyer Belt" which is generated by the downwelling of surface water in the Greenland Sea. It supplies the ocean heat transfert towards the high latitude and makes it rather strong in North Atlantic. The relevant question about climate is to know whether this MOC could stop and if it happens what would be the climatic consequences. But this does not involve at all the existense of Gulf Stream. |
