Abrupt climate change

1999/02/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Ingurumena

In mid-November, representatives of the world's most developed countries and leading environmental experts met in Buenos Aires to discuss the situation and consequences of the Greenhouse Effect. According to studies conducted by environmental experts in recent years, the different climates of the Earth do not vary gradually as has been considered so far, but the changes are abrupt. According to studies conducted on Greenland ice, 14,000 years ago the climate experienced a 5º increase in less than ten years.

According to scientists, the change in the structure of the atmosphere (for example, the amount of CO2) implies a change in the behavior of the atmosphere, which causes a sudden change in the different climates. Although emissions of gases that are changing the structure of the atmosphere are slowing down in recent years, the concentration of these gases is increasing and in the short term different climates can change dramatically. For example, the Gulf Stream, known in the north of the Atlantic Ocean, can disappear through cold water produced by melting ice in the Arctic, causing a decrease in temperatures throughout Europe. This change would have consequences especially in northern Europe.