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In article <5194@optilink.UUCP>, cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) writes:
%In article <1991Jan8.021432.29602@amd.com>, phil@brahms.amd.com (Phil Ngai) writes:
%> In article <5185@optilink.UUCP> cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) writes:
%# |If you increase CO2 in the atmosphere, you increase the amount
%# |in solution in sea water.  (Equilibrium problem).  Increasing
%# |the amount in solution in sea water increases the amount deposited
%# |as carbonates.  (Another equilibrium problem, since carbonates
%# |can also give up CO2 as the solution loses CO2).
%# 
%# One of his claims is that right now the global ocean currents,
%# of which the Gulf Stream is a part, has sea water evaporating
%# in the Atlantic and sinking from getting much saltier and heavier
%# and then traveling near the bottom for a while, during which
%# time it deposits a lot of CO2 (presumably in the form of carbonates).
%# 
%# He says that global warming will melt the ice caps and make the
%# sea water much less salty, preventing it from sinking and therefore
%# make the CO2 disposal problem much worse.
%
%That's the first mistake.  Even complete melting of all the ice caps
%and glaciers on Earth wouldn't make more than a 10% difference in
%salinity of the oceans, even if ALL the water ended up in the oceans,
%since the ice caps & glaciers are no more than 10% of the world's
%water.

You are absolutely right--the *average* salinity of the oceans won't change
much from the melting of the polar ice caps.  However, the Gulf Stream
itself is saltier than the surrounding ocean, and is the crucial element
in this global circulation current.  If fresh water from the melting North
Pole ice cap flows into the Gulf Stream as it sinks in the North Atlantic,
it will become less salty and sink slower.  Since the fresh water only mixes
basically at the surface, it won't affect the density of the lower depths,
and the Gulf Stream will sink slower than before.  The overall salinity
of the ocean need not (and probably won't) change much at all.

ethan
-- 
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ethan miller--cs grad student   elm@sprite.berkeley.edu
#include <std/disclaimer.h>     {...}!ucbvax!sprite!elm
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