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Article: The flywheel of the Arctic climate engine: remote Beaufort Gyre expeditions reveal clues to climate change.
- Article from:
- Oceanus
- Article date:
- December 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The bottom line is that the top of the world will play a decisive role in determining how Earth's climate changes. Global warming already may be tipping the Arctic's delicately balanced system of air, ice, and ocean and poising it to trigger even larger, more widespread climate changes.
A key component of the Arctic climate clockworks is the Beaufort Gyre--a bowl of cold, icy, relatively fresh waters north of Alaska that is swept by prevailing winds into a circular swirl larger than the Gulf of Mexico. WHOI physical oceanographer Andrey Proshutinsky calls it "the flywheel of Arctic climate."
The gyre accumulates fresh water created when ice melts. More ...