Atlantic Water in the Nordic Seas: Properties, Variability, Climatic Importance

188 Pages·2014·9.351 MB·English

by  Waldemar Walczowski (auth.)

GeoPlanet: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Waldemar Walczowski
Atlantic Water
in the Nordic Seas
Properties, Variability,
Climatic Importance
GeoPlanet: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Editor-in-Chief
Paweł Rowin´ski
Series Editors
Marek Banaszkiewicz
Janusz Pempkowiak
Marek Lewandowski
For furthervolumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/8821
Waldemar Walczowski
Atlantic Water
in the Nordic Seas
Properties, Variability,
Climatic Importance
123
Waldemar Walczowski
Instituteof Oceanology,
Physical Oceanography
PolishAcademy ofSciences
Sopot,Pomorskie
Poland
The GeoPlanet: Earth and Planetary Sciences Book Series is in part a continuation of Monographic
Volumes of Publications of the Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, the journal
publishedsince1962(http://pub.igf.edu.pl/index.php).
ISSN 2190-5193 ISSN 2190-5207 (electronic)
ISBN 978-3-319-01278-0 ISBN 978-3-319-01279-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-01279-7
SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2013944781
(cid:2)SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2014
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Series Editors
Geophysics: Paweł Rowin´ski
Editor-in-Chief
Institute of Geophysics
Polish Academy of Sciences
ul. Ks. Janusza 64
01-452 Warszawa, Poland
[email protected]
Space Sciences: Marek Banaszkiewicz
Space Research Centre
Polish Academy of Sciences
ul. Bartycka 18A
00-716 Warszawa, Poland
Oceanology: Janusz Pempkowiak
Institute of Oceanology
Polish Academy of Sciences
Powstan´ców Warszawy 55
81-712 Sopot, Poland
Geology: Marek Lewandowski
Institute of Geological Sciences
Polish Academy of Sciences
ul. Twarda 51/55
00-818 Warszawa, Poland
Managing Editor
Anna Dziembowska
Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences
Advisory Editor
Robert Anczkiewicz Bertrand Fritz
Research Centre in Kraków Ecole et Observatoire des
Institute of Geological Sciences Sciences de la Terre,
Kraków, Poland Laboratoire d’Hydrologie
et de Géochimie de Strasbourg
Aleksander Brzezin´ski Université de Strasbourg et CNRS
Space Research Centre Strasbourg, France
Polish Academy of Sciences
Warszawa, Poland
Truls Johannessen
Geophysical Institute
Javier Cuadros University of Bergen
Department of Mineralogy Bergen, Norway
Natural History Museum
London, UK Michael A. Kaminski
Department of Earth Sciences
Jerzy Dera
University College London
Institute of Oceanology
London, UK
Polish Academy of Sciences
Sopot, Poland
Andrzej Kijko
Aon Benfield
Evgeni Fedorovich
Natural Hazards Research Centre
School of Meteorology
University of Pretoria
University of Oklahoma
Pretoria, South Africa
Norman, USA
Wolfgang Franke Francois Leblanc
Geologisch-Paläntologisches Institut Laboratoire Atmospheres, Milieux
Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Observations Spatiales – CNRS/IPSL
Frankfurt/Main, Germany Paris, France
Kon-Kee Liu Tilman Spohn
Institute of Hydrological Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-
and Oceanic Sciences und Raumfahrt
National Central University Jhongli in der Helmholtz Gemeinschaft
Jhongli, Taiwan Institut für Planetenforschung
Berlin, Germany
Teresa Madeyska
Research Centre in Warsaw
Krzysztof Stasiewicz
Institute of Geological Sciences
Swedish Institute of Space Physics
Warszawa, Poland
Uppsala, Sweden
Stanisław Massel
Roman Teisseyre
Institute of Oceanology
Earth’s Interior Dynamics Lab
Polish Academy of Sciences
Institute of Geophysics
Sopot, Polska
Polish Academy of Sciences
Warszawa, Poland
Antonio Meloni
Instituto Nazionale di Geofisica
Jacek Tronczynski
Rome, Italy
Laboratory of Biogeochemistry
Evangelos Papathanassiou of Organic Contaminants
Hellenic Centre for Marine Research IFREMER DCN_BE
Anavissos, Greece Nantes, France
Kaja Pietsch
Steve Wallis
AGH University of Science and
School of the Built Environment
Technology
Heriot-Watt University
Kraków, Poland
Riccarton, Edinburgh
Scotland, UK
Dušan Plašienka
Prírodovedecká fakulta, UK
Wacław M. Zuberek
Univerzita Komenského
Department of Applied Geology
Bratislava, Slovakia
University of Silesia
Sosnowiec, Poland
Barbara Popielawska
Space Research Centre
Polish Academy of Sciences
Warszawa, Poland
It is evident that oceanographic conditions of
the North Polar Basin have much influence
on climate, and it is equally evident that
changes in the conditions of circulation
would greatly change the climatic
conditions.
Fridtjof Nansen (1902)
(Polar Research, 2001, 20(2), p. 127)
Preface
Climatic changes observed in recent years are worrying. A few years ago it was
not completely obvious whether the climate was actually getting warmer, or was
just a temporary fluctuation. Today, we know that these are not just typical
weather anomalies, as since 2001 each subsequent year has been almost the
warmest year in the history of world meteorological measurements. We have
evidence that it is getting warmer in the global scale and we—humans—are
responsibleforthat.TheFourthAssessmentReportoftheIntergovernmentalPanel
onClimateChange(IPCC)leavesverysmallmarginoferror.Theprobabilitythat
the changes result from the greenhouse gas emission exceeds 90 % (IPCC AR4,
2007). While the direct causes of climate warming have been recognized, the
mechanisms and long-term effects of the processes remain unknown or not com-
pletely clear.
The Earth’s climate turned out to be an extraordinarily complex phenomenon,
affected by a great deal offactors and processes. One of the basic climate control
factors,yetunderestimateduntilrecently,istheocean.Thesignificanceofthesea
for mitigating climate has been always recognized—at the seaside winters are
warmerandsummerscooler.TheroleoftheGulfStreaminwarmingtheAtlantic
part of Europe was known.
However, the ocean had not been treated as a primary global-scale climate
control factor, affecting our planet in a very wide range of processes and various
timescales. Only the recent decades, particularly the recent years of increased
interest in the climate, has ignited a revolution, an upheaval in thinking about the
ocean’srole,thequantityofheatitreceives,storesandtransports,andthepotential
consequencesofhypotheticalchangeintheoceancirculationpattern.Itwasfound
that the ocean affects climate notonly as an important ingredient of the planetary
hydrographic and energy cycle, but also participates in the biogeochemical cycle,
exchangeofgaswiththeatmospherewhich,inturn,affectsthegreenhouseeffect.
Itis,forinstance,agreatreservoir,abufferwhichstoresthemostcommonandthe
most dangerous greenhouse gas released by human civilization—carbon dioxide.
In spite of the increasing recognition of the ocean’s role, even today, the most
renownedreportconcerningtheclimate(AR4,IPCC,2007)containsthefollowing
sentence:‘‘Althoughscientistsnowbetterappreciatethestrengthandvariabilityof
theglobal-scaleoceancirculation,itsrolesinclimatearestillhotlydebated.Isita
passive recipient of atmospheric forcing and so merely a diagnostic consequence
xi
xii Preface
of climate change, or is it an active contributor?’’ Ocean researchers have no
doubts: it is an extremely important and active climate control factor. The
observedchangesinfluencetheoceanandtheoceanactivelyrespondstothemand
modifies them. The Atlantic Arctic has a special role in the processes.
Sopot, July 2008 Waldemar Walczowski