The Upland Gardener
By M.L. Wells
Master Gardener Volunteer, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Allegany County
We all know how clever old Ben Franklin was. I am just glad that dumb experiment with key, kite and thunderstorm didn’t kill him. Kids, do not do this!
In traveling back and forth as our ambassador to France, Franklin asked the sea captains why they took the northern route going east and the southern going home. The answer, of course, became known as the Gulf Stream.
Those who visit England today relish the mild winters, southern England is much like our Carolinas, but if you look at a map, at 55’N it is similar to Labrador. What is going on?
Well, it is due to that huge river flowing in the Atlantic, from the Gulf near Florida, north to northeast and England. It brings huge amounts of warm tropical water to the north, thereby moderating the climate. What keeps this conveyor running? It all comes down to density.
Warm water is less dense and flows along the surface. Cold water and salty water is denser and sinks. As the Gulf Stream moves north, it evaporates in its southern regions and cools as it reaches the North Atlantic Ocean, thereby sinking and flowing back towards the equator.
Climate scientists fear this cycle could collapse, plunging North Western Europe into a chilly Labrador type climate. What could cause this?
1) Global warming melts more of Greenland’s ice cap.
2) Fresh water pours into the North Atlantic Ocean diluting the salty ocean.
3) Less cold and salty water does not sink to reverse the flow.
4) The conveyor belt breaks down.
We know this is not a guess. It has happened several times in the last 2.5 million years of the Ice Age, as icepacks came and went.
What an odd twist; as most of us get hotter, poor old England will be very much colder. Nobody in the know ever said climate change would be fun.