Turning and turning in the widening gyre
Posted by
Alan Durning
04/16/2004 04:52 AM
Today's Science magazine holds an article (summarized here) by Northwest researchers about circumpolar winds and oceanic currents. These huge gyres of cold air and water help to maintain the global climate within the bounds that have proved conducive to human civilization. (A Cascadia example: our thick winter snowpacks and the resulting abundance of year-round freshwater.) One paradoxical conclusion: "global warming" can trigger "ice ages" in some places and heating and drying elsewhere.
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