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The Gulf Stream is not slowing down

The Gulf Stream does not seem to be slowing, said American scientists used satellites to monitor changes in the sea.

Consistent with the results obtained by other experts who used different methodologies, the U.S. team found dramatic variations in the short term, but this does not mean that it is a trend, as clarified. Some climate models project a slowdown "argument raised in the movie" The Day After "- in this stream.

The research results were published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Changes itself

trend The Gulf Stream is a key process in the climate of Western Europe. Pushes heat from the tropics to the north and keeps countries like the UK about 4-6 º C warm. Part of a broader movement of water, the South Atlantic Circulation Return, which is itself a component of the global thermohaline circulation system.

Between 2002 and 2009, the team says, we do not notice any trend, only periods cortos.Las many variations on satellite images collected since 1993 suggest a small increase in the flow, but researchers are convinced that this change is significant. "The changes we have seen in the strength of return are probably part of a natural cycle," said Josh Willis, Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA's Jet in California. "The slight increase of return since 1993 coincides with the natural rhythm of warming and cooling of the Atlantic."

Confusion

The first observations made by assuming that the movement was growing more slowly came to light in 2005, as part of an investigation by the National Oceanography Centre in the UK.

Variability

Currently, the NOC team has a number of measuring instruments across the Atlantic to record information continuously.

"In four and a half years of measurements, we found a great variability, and are working to find an explanation," said Harry Bryden, researcher NOC.

The amounts of water involved are enormous, with variations between 4 and 35 million tons of water per second.

The research is part of the project funded by the UK "Rapid", whose mission is to refine the understanding of the potential impact of major climatic changes that can occur in short periods.

Bryden's team estimated that the system of sensors located in the Atlantic is good enough to detect changes in stream flow over the long term 20 .