Michael Mann: Could The Younger Dryas Climate "Flip" Happen Again?

[hatrack]

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="

?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

EDIT



The Younger Dryas is one of the most well-known examples of abrupt change. About 14,500 years ago, the Earth’s climate began to shift from a cold glacial world to a warmer interglacial state. Partway through this transition, temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere suddenly returned to near-glacial conditions (Figure 6). This near-glacial period is called the Younger Dryas, named after a flower (Dryas octopetala) that grows in cold conditions and became common in Europe during this time. The end of the Younger Dryas, about 11,500 years ago, was particularly abrupt. In Greenland, temperatures rose 10° C (18° F) in a decade (Figure 6; Cuffey and Clow, 1997).

What caused the Younger Dryas?

The Younger Dryas occurred during the transition from the last glacial period into the present interglacial (the Holocene). During this time, the continental ice sheets were rapidly melting and adding freshwater to the North Atlantic. Figure 6 shows the reconstructed freshwater flux from the melting Laurentide ice sheet through the St. Lawrence River. Just prior to the Younger Dryas, meltwater fluxes into the North Atlantic increased dramatically. In addition, there was probably a short-lived period of particularly high freshwater flux about 13,000 years ago that is not shown in this figure, resulting from a large discharge of freshwater from a glacial lake in North America. Scientists have hypothesized that meltwater floods reduced the salinity and density of the surface ocean in the North Atlantic, causing a reduction in the ocean’s thermohaline circulation and climate changes around the world. Eventually, as the meltwater flux abated, the thermohaline circulation strengthened again and climate recovered.

The record from Dome C in Antarctica supports this explanation. If the thermohaline circulation were to slow, less heat would be transported from the South Atlantic to the North Atlantic (Crowley, 1992; Broecker, 1998). This would cause the South Atlantic to warm and the North Atlantic to cool. This pattern, sometimes called the “bipolar see-saw”, is observable when comparing the GISP2 and Dome C records for the Younger Dryas.

Notice the second period of large freshwater discharge following the Younger Dryas in Figure 6. Interestingly, this discharge did not cause a second major climate change similar to the Younger Dryas. One possible explanation for this is that, after the Younger Dryas, the thermohaline circulation had become more vigorous as the climate finally entered the interglacial. A vigorous thermohaline circulation might be less susceptible to freshwater discharges.

EDIT/END

http://climatecrocks.com/2015/03/24/mike-mann-on-the-younger-dryas-could-it-happen-again/

[haikugal]

1. Thanks for posting this..

Mann is wonderful and the answer is yes, of course it could.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

2. And if it did, it would be presented as 'evidence' that Climate Change didn't exist

by the Congressional snowball throwers.

(Edit: Ok, that's funny - I didn't notice he had a copy of 'The Hockey Stick' facing the camera over his shoulder at first.)

[Ichingcarpenter]

3. An interesting conversation

between joe rogan and randall carlson

Randall Carlson is not a global warming denier but he presents a lot of data on The Younger Dryas and temperature variations from ice cores in this discussion. Its an interesting discussion and worth one's time in my opinion.

[phantom power]

4. These days I consider a YD event to be the best possible scenario