Global change: Current concern

Recent climate modelling studies have raised the possibility that Labrador Sea Water formation, one of the major pumps driving modern thermohaline circulation, may cease in the near future as a consequence of global warming. Little is known about the effect that such an event would have on climate but some conclusions can be drawn from an analysis of what happened during the last interglacial. Throughout this period, thought to be about 2 �C warmer than the present, the familiar split between North Atlantic Deep Water and Labrador Sea Water did not exist. Instead, in a situation that might be seen as an analogue for future climate, a single mass of water arose from the Nordic seas. What we now regard as 'normal' has no analogue during the last climate cycle.

Absence of deep-water formation in the Labrador Sea during the last interglacial period
C. HILLAIRE-MARCEL, A. DE VERNAL, G. BILODEAU & A. J. WEAVER
Nature 410, 1073-1077 (26 April 2001)
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26 April 2001 table of contents