Quote:
Originally Posted by Ross PK81
Well, I've just been watching the power of the planet, and it's been talking about that if the cycle or belt or whatever it's called of warm and cold water stops it could have devistating consequences. As it's supposed to supply 50% of the earths oxygen. Hopefully if the ice caps melt completely, the water will still always be cold enough to continue the cycle.
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The problem here is that the presence of ice as a coolant ensures that the temperature is always around the freezing point.
If the ice is gone there's nothing to clamp that temperature to any specific value and it can rise as it wants.
Incidentally, this is why average sea temperature is a very poor indicator for heat added to the ocean due to the cooling to a nearly fixed temperature which happens at the start of it's cycle. For a good indicator you need to looks at how much ice is melted, since that's where the energy is going at the moment.
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