Wouldn't global warming affect Atlantic Basin first?

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

Since the waters are shallower in altantic basin- and can
therefore warm up sooner than waters of other basins
in the event of global warming?

[HURAKAN]

Deepest Oceans and Seas

The planet is approximately 71% water and contains (5) five oceans, including the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern.

(deepest oceans and seas)

#1 Pacific Ocean (35,837 ft) (10,924 meters)
#2 Atlantic Ocean (30,246 ft) (9,219 meters)
#3 Indian Ocean (24,460 ft) (7,455 meters)
#4 Caribbean Sea (22,788 ft) (6,946 meters)
#5 Arctic Ocean (18,456 ft) (5,625 meters)
#6 South China Sea (16,456 ft) (5,016 meters)
#7 Bering Sea (15,659 ft) (4,773 meters)
#8 Mediterranean Sea (15,197 ft) (4,632 meters)
#9 Gulf of Mexico (12,425 ft) (3,787 meters)
#10 Japan Sea (12,276 ft) (3,742 meters)

Note that official depths for the Southern Ocean are not available at this time.



http://worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/deepest.htm

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

So GOM and Carribean would heat up before the Atlantic?
But the volume of water is less in there?
Just Wondering...

[kevin]

I'm still upset about this southern ocean nonsense, the only reason the arctic ocean exists is because there is an ocean basin up there with the ice floating on top of the water.

[x-y-no]

Since the waters are shallower in altantic basin- and can
therefore warm up sooner than waters of other basins
in the event of global warming?

No, the rate of overturning is very slow relative to the volume of water, and most of the heat absorbed by the surface waters is returned to the atmosphere before subsidence.

The relative depths of the ocean basins play essentially no role in the observed surface warming.

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

Since the waters are shallower in altantic basin- and can
therefore warm up sooner than waters of other basins
in the event of global warming?

No, the rate of overturning is very slow relative to the volume of water, and most of the heat absorbed by the surface waters is returned to the atmosphere before subsidence.

The relative depths of the ocean basins play essentially no role in the observed surface warming.

Thanks for explanation...but now I have yet another
question generated....
So Oceanic Heat Content is a measure of subsidence?

[P.K.]

I don't think many people look in the Global section but the Met Office have released something about this years temperatures which is relevant to this thread that I have posted to here: http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=79483

[x-y-no]

Thanks for explanation...but now I have yet another
question generated....
So Oceanic Heat Content is a measure of subsidence?

Certainly not in any simple way. It's true that the water won't sink until it's dense enough and that requires it be cold, but even in a much warmer world the Arctic will be cold enough to accomplish that. And once again, the bulk of the heat winds up back in the atmosphere, not transported down into the abyssal ocean.

At any rate, when you see references to oceanic heat content, they're generally actually talking about the heat in the surface mixed layer (the first couple of hundred meters or so).

Temperatures in the abyssal ocean change only extremely slowly and by small increments. Of cource, there's a huge volume of water down there, so even a tiny increment in average temperature would be a very large amount of energy, but the interaction with the atmosphere is on timescales of many centuries, so it's not a significant factor in climate change - more of a fixed boundary condition.

Ocean circulation, OTOH, including the subsidence rate, is a huge factor in climate dynamics - hence the concern over possibilites like freshening of the North Atlantic surface waters affecting the THC.

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

So ocean circulation must be a huge factor...
Thus the thermohaline circulation
Thank you for explanations
Interesting stuff about THC:

http://www.sos.bangor.ac.uk/~oss041/des ... p01-08.htm

[Terrell]

Is it within the realm of possibilities, that Global Warming could cause more shear in the atlantic, and end up reducing our hurricanes?

[x-y-no]

Is it within the realm of possibilities, that Global Warming could cause more shear in the atlantic, and end up reducing our hurricanes?

Yes, certainly, although I'm not aware of any modelling which actually predicts that.

[Terrell]

Is it within the realm of possibilities, that Global Warming could cause more shear in the atlantic, and end up reducing our hurricanes?

Yes, certainly, although I'm not aware of any modelling which actually predicts that.

Thanks

[curtadams]

Is it within the realm of possibilities, that Global Warming could cause more shear in the atlantic, and end up reducing our hurricanes?

It's *possible*, but the primary component of shear is Hadley cells and westerlies, which are driven by the temperature gradient from Equator to pole. That's why shear is so much higher in winter than summer. Global Warming is reducing the Equator-pole gradient, so it will in general reduce shear. It's possible that additional shifts could shift the locations with higher shear around so that the Atlantic actually experienced more, but that's unlikely.

[NC George]

Deepest Oceans and Seas

The planet is approximately 71% water and contains (5) five oceans, including the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern.

(deepest oceans and seas)

#1 Pacific Ocean (35,837 ft) (10,924 meters)
#2 Atlantic Ocean (30,246 ft) (9,219 meters)
#3 Indian Ocean (24,460 ft) (7,455 meters)
#4 Caribbean Sea (22,788 ft) (6,946 meters)
#5 Arctic Ocean (18,456 ft) (5,625 meters)
#6 South China Sea (16,456 ft) (5,016 meters)
#7 Bering Sea (15,659 ft) (4,773 meters)
#8 Mediterranean Sea (15,197 ft) (4,632 meters)
#9 Gulf of Mexico (12,425 ft) (3,787 meters)
#10 Japan Sea (12,276 ft) (3,742 meters)

Note that official depths for the Southern Ocean are not available at this time.



http://worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/deepest.htm

This data is worthless in regards to what we are discussing. This is a list of the single deepest portion of each ocean, which is invariably in a narrow trench, not indicative of the ocean's depth in general. What is needed for this comparison is the average depth of the ocean in it's entirety.

[NC George]

From: http://pao.cnmoc.navy.mil/pao/Educate/OceanTalk2/indexoceans.htm

Average depth of:

Pacific: 13000 ft
Indian: 12750 ft
Atlantic: 12000 ft

There is no mention of the 'Southern Ocean' in this writeup, so I can understand you being upset. However, I find something else more interesting - The Arctic Sea (that's right, I claim it's a sea, not an ocean.)

Point 1) In the discussion of the Atlantic, it states it runs from the North Pole and goes southward.

Point 2) Look at the map of the Arctic Ocean at the bottom of the page. This gives more of a perspective from the pole down, and from this angle, it appears the Arctic Ocean is clearly an extension of the Atlantic. I can see maybe the portion between the Lomonosov Ridge and North America being named a seperate sea, similar to the Carribean, but an ocean, no. In fact, the Lomonosov Ridge seems to be an extension of the mid-atlantic ridge, with Greenland merely being a portion that juts above the surface.