ChiTownVenture
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Post by ChiTownVenture on Feb 24, 2015 8:45:13 GMT -5
Undersea Volcanoes Erupt with Gravity, Shifting Earth's Climate "the Earth's volcanism is tied to minute shifts in motion of the Earth around the sun, as well as to sea levels, in a chain of events that scientists have never before envisioned." "Volcanoes seem to erupt when ocean tides are at their lowest point due to the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun. The timing corresponds to the six months of the year when the planet is drawing away from the sun, which loses its influence on the tides. The implication of this finding is that as sea levels rise due to climate change, they could mimic high tides and suppress underwater volcanic activity, and thousands of years hence, it would affect future climate." "Such linkages between volcanoes and planetary alignments could be better represented in climate models, Tolstoy said. Present-day models do represent underwater volcanoes, but they assume that volcanoes have a constant effect on the planet's carbon cycle. But Tolstoy's study suggests that, if anything, volcanism happens in spurts dictated by astronomical events. Baker of NOAA cautioned that this does not mean that present-day climate change is not driven by human activity, because humans far outstrip the fractional contribution of prehistorical volcanoes to global warming. "It's important to keep in mind that, even on a 1,000-year time scale, human emissions of CO2 will continue to dominate climate change," he said. "That is, we cannot blame seafloor eruptions for the ongoing increase in atmospheric and oceanic CO2 concentrations."" www.scientificamerican.com/article/undersea-volcanoes-erupt-with-gravity-shifting-earth-s-climate/It seems that monitoring the melting of the glaciers and ice caps are better indicators for the effects of climate change than just looking at the rise and fall of the sea levels. Ultimately this data will be fed into the models and the models will continue to be adjusted.
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fairlycrazy23
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Post by fairlycrazy23 on Feb 24, 2015 12:35:59 GMT -5
My question is just how much of the ocean rise is because of all the arctic ice melting? Actually none, the rising comes from ice sheets overland that flows to the sea after it melts, since the arctic is just ice it won't raise the sea level. I don't think the changes in volume do to temperature is significant enough.
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djAdvocate
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Post by djAdvocate on Feb 24, 2015 12:48:02 GMT -5
My question is just how much of the ocean rise is because of all the arctic ice melting? Actually none, the rising comes from ice sheets overland that flows to the sea after it melts, since the arctic is just ice it won't raise the sea level. I don't think the changes in volume do to temperature is significant enough. i didn't think so either, fc- but now i am not so sure. edit: this comment had to do with the expansion question.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Feb 24, 2015 13:07:38 GMT -5
The melting waters from glaciers running into the ocean around Antarctica is lighter in weight due to a lack of salt as found found in seawater. Therefore, the freshwater rides atop the oceans' salt water. Fresh water also has a higher freeze point than salt water depending upon the salinity. So the frozen waters around Antarctica is primariliy fresh water which accounts for the freezing and melting during the continent's winter and summer seasons. And while the north pole and immediate Arctic area has no land masses, parts of northern Europe, including Greenland, North America and Asia do have melting glaciers and do lie within the Artic circle. Those land masses contribute fresh water to the Arctic region. Again, fresh water is lighter in weight and has a higher freezing point than salt water depending upon the salinity.
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ChiTownVenture
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Post by ChiTownVenture on Feb 24, 2015 13:19:10 GMT -5
Actually none, the rising comes from ice sheets overland that flows to the sea after it melts, since the arctic is just ice it won't raise the sea level. I don't think the changes in volume do to temperature is significant enough. i didn't think so either, fc- but now i am not so sure. edit: this comment had to do with the expansion question. I think the answer is "unknown" because there are too many other variables in play. It's not a direct cause and effect scenario. The safe bet it that higher sea levels are a result of climate change. Expressed climate change is a result of human activity.
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