Connection between Freezing Europe and the BP spill

[GH3]

The issue is a disruption of the Boundary layer between the warm and cool waters. The surfactants used in the Gulf Oil Spill infiltrated the thermohaline current (not the oil but the surfactant). The surfactant changes the Boundary layer conditions and the two water mix terminating the flow.

You can build a model of this on a bench and watch it stop when you add surfactants.

 

[Evo]

The issue is a disruption of the Boundary layer between the warm and cool waters. The surfactants used in the Gulf Oil Spill infiltrated the thermohaline current (not the oil but the surfactant). The surfactant changes the Boundary layer conditions and the two water mix terminating the flow.

Please post the scientific document which verifies this, we don't allow opinions in this forum.

Thanks.

 

[BilPrestonEsq]

Is it possible that the oil could have lowered the specific heat capacity of the water in the gulf? The specific heat of petroleum is half that of water. Now I realize that the percentage of oil to water is not all that high but it does tend to remain on the surface that could have stiffled the heat transfer necessary for the stream to continue flowing. Just throwing that out there.

 

[PhilKravitz]

I can't speak for other parts of Europe, but what I see here is not different from what I remember as a standard winter back in sixties, seventies and early eigthies. It was nineties and last decade that spoiled us into thinking winter is not what it is.

In short - I don't see anything unusual about the winter in Poland this year.

Borek, same here in New York State, US. We used to ski locally in the 60s but have not been able to do that for decades. This winter is like a normal winter with snow. Pretty much nicer than just gray.

 

[PhilKravitz]

b) reading the reports that satellite data from the summer has shown that the Gulf loop current has disappeared and that a drastic reduction in the flow of the Gulf Stream has occurred.
AM

Can you give some references for this data? I am unable to find any data that says the Gulf Stream has stopped or significantly decreased. Thanks.

 

[Andrew Mason]

Can you give some references for this data? I am unable to find any data that says the Gulf Stream has stopped or significantly decreased. Thanks.

The monitors removed the sources I originally posted, which were deemed not to be scientific. The reports were that the Gulf Loop Current had stopped.

The data for measurements of the Gulf Loop Current post-spill is found here: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/dhos/altimetry.php

The charts show monthly satellite altimetry data from April-December 2010. The satellite measures the height of the water surface, which correlates to temperature. The loop current is seen in its normal state in April and early May. If you look at the charts for May 2010 you will see a dramatic change to the loop current occurring from May 20-27 when the loop current appears to break off from the flow into the Carribean and Atlantic. This results in a warm eddy in the gulf detached from the rest of the flow. That warm eddy cools and eventually disappears in August. The current loop up into the Gulf appears to be missing for the remainder of 2010.

AM

 

[PhilKravitz]

The monitors removed the sources I originally posted, which were deemed not to be scientific. The reports were that the Gulf Loop Current had stopped.

AM

The Gulf loop pinches off on a regular basis. This is normal. It is a repeating patterns with a time scale of 1-2 years?

If anyone has data on the Gulf Stream slowing/stopping/cooling that would be news.

 

[Andrew Mason]

The Gulf loop pinches off on a regular basis. This is normal. It is a repeating patterns with a time scale of 1-2 years?

If anyone has data on the Gulf Stream slowing/stopping/cooling that would be news.

It does appear that eddies break off from time to time from the Gulf Loop flow. So there are natural events that cause this. There may also be unnatural events that cause this, such as an oil spill. It does seem rather striking that the eddy should break off within a month after the BP spill, just as the spill contacts the loop current. And it has stayed that way since then, it appears.

I haven't been able to find data for the Gulf Loop current before April 2010. If the current that exits between Cuba and Florida does not first circulate into the Gulf, is it going to acquire as much heat? Is there any correlation between the Gulf loop current and the temperature and/or flow of the North Atlantic Drift?

AM