Saturday, April 02, 2011

Hmm: Are we completely sure that iPhone chargers in Boise are causing ocean currents to deliver subtropical waters to a fjord in Greenland?

Sail-World.com : Study sheds light on how heat is transported to Greenland glaciers
Warmer air is only part of the story when it comes to Greenland’s rapidly melting ice sheet. New research by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) highlights the role ocean circulation plays in transporting heat to glaciers.
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A research team led by WHOI physical oceanographer Fiamma Straneo discovered warm, subtropical waters deep inside Sermilik Fjord at the base of Helheim Glacier in 2009.
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The March 2010 trip marked the first time the researchers were able to observe winter-time conditions in the fjord, which is how the system probably works nine months out of the year.

'One surprise we found was that the warm waters in the fjord are actually 1 degree Celsius warmer in winter, which by Greenland standards is a lot,' Straneo says. 'It raises the possibility that winter melt rates might be larger than those in the summer.

'Current climate models do not take these factors into account,' she adds. 'We’re just beginning to understand all of the pieces. We need to know more about how the ocean changes at the glaciers edge. It’s critical to improving predictions of future ice sheet variability and sea level rise.'

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