Tuesday, June 29, 2004
I don't usually get freaked out about environmental issues, but this is really something that needs to be looked into further.
A Columbia University graduate student has come out with a climate model with a new take on the consequences of global warming. We all know that increased temperatures cause faster melting of the polar ice caps, resulting in higher sea levels around the globe.
Previous studies have looked at only the first order consequences such as the flooding of coastal areas. This new model explores the higher order ramifications of increased sea levels. Although the ice melt is distributed proportionally to the oceans around the world, the massive Pacific ocean, which covers nearly a third of the globe and has an average depth of 13000 feet, would capture a huge percentage of the total melt. Thus the 'mass' of the water in the Pacific would be increased much more than the other oceans in absolute terms.
Projections indicate that this additional mass would cause the rotation of the earth to "wobble" slightly, similar to an unbalanced washing machine. As the Earth's angular momentum is being wasted in the wobbling motion, the rotational speed will decrease slightly for as long as this situation occurs. The fact that this scenario is not seen in the fossil record during previous warm stretches is because 'continental drift' has caused the oceans to become increasingly unbalanced over time.
The preliminary model suggests that the length of an Earth day will thus be increased by between 30-50 minutes over a hundred years. While this does not sound like a lot, and of course humans are able to easily adapt, it would have drastic consequences for the rest of the eco-system, affecting everything from crop yields to the migratory pattern of birds.
I think it's clear that we should not waste any more time studying whether this is true or not and start acting immediately. Do you really want to have to tell your grandchildren that you did not act because you wanted to wait until we had proof? Also, considering that I just made this whole thing up, further research would probably not be able to replicate these findings.
A Columbia University graduate student has come out with a climate model with a new take on the consequences of global warming. We all know that increased temperatures cause faster melting of the polar ice caps, resulting in higher sea levels around the globe.
Previous studies have looked at only the first order consequences such as the flooding of coastal areas. This new model explores the higher order ramifications of increased sea levels. Although the ice melt is distributed proportionally to the oceans around the world, the massive Pacific ocean, which covers nearly a third of the globe and has an average depth of 13000 feet, would capture a huge percentage of the total melt. Thus the 'mass' of the water in the Pacific would be increased much more than the other oceans in absolute terms.
Projections indicate that this additional mass would cause the rotation of the earth to "wobble" slightly, similar to an unbalanced washing machine. As the Earth's angular momentum is being wasted in the wobbling motion, the rotational speed will decrease slightly for as long as this situation occurs. The fact that this scenario is not seen in the fossil record during previous warm stretches is because 'continental drift' has caused the oceans to become increasingly unbalanced over time.
The preliminary model suggests that the length of an Earth day will thus be increased by between 30-50 minutes over a hundred years. While this does not sound like a lot, and of course humans are able to easily adapt, it would have drastic consequences for the rest of the eco-system, affecting everything from crop yields to the migratory pattern of birds.
I think it's clear that we should not waste any more time studying whether this is true or not and start acting immediately. Do you really want to have to tell your grandchildren that you did not act because you wanted to wait until we had proof? Also, considering that I just made this whole thing up, further research would probably not be able to replicate these findings.
