HOBART, Australia, Aug. 17 An Australian scientist is calling for deep ocean moorings in the Southern Hemisphere to detect changes in ocean circulation.
John Church of the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystem Cooperative Research Center said the moorings would complement a network of moorings now spanning the North Atlantic Ocean.
The North Atlantic moored network provides measurements of the Gulf Stream, which moderates European and North American climate by moving warm waters toward high latitudes. The moorings monitor North Atlantic overturning circulation, the northward flow of near-surface, warm water.
"The establishment of such a system in the Southern Hemisphere is critical to providing the additional data ocean scientists need to more accurately monitor any shifts in the global ocean circulation that influence world climate," Church said.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
