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Atlantic Ocean currents circulation.

Atlantic Ocean currents circulation.
Atlantic Ocean currents circulation.
Atlantic Ocean currents circulation.
Atlantic Ocean currents circulation.
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175817
Oberlander, E. Paul
Atlantic Ocean currents circulation.
Illustration
09/05/2006
oppo-ocean_circ.jpg
Created for Oceanus magazine article.
Oceanus caption:
Today (top), the oceans' overturning circulation carries a tremendous amount of heat northward, warming the North Atlantic region. It also generates a huge volume of cold, salty water called North Atlantic Deep Water - a great mass of water that flows southward, filling up the deep Atlantic Ocean basin and eventually spreading into the deep Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Image of The Day caption:
To reconstruct climate changes over millennia, scientists like WHOI's Delia Oppo and former colleague Jerry McManus use conceptual models, like the one depicted here, that simulate the workings of the ocean and atmosphere. The models point to a possible "switch" that speeds up or slows down a global system of ocean currents that transports heat from the tropics and warms the North Atlantic region and surrounding continents. Changes in the rate or strength of this circulation would likely have substantial impacts on climate.
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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