Remember all those climate models used to forecast future climate change -- the ones predicting catastrophe in the near or far future? Of course you do. They claimed to be authoritative and complete and and adequate basis on which to institute radical policy changes that would affect the lives of everyone.
Well, as it turns out, they were missing a big hunk of information. Specifically they did not take into account one of the major elements of the ocean circulation system that drives global climate change.
New research shows that a current sweeping past Australia's southern island of Tasmania toward the South Atlantic is a previously undetected part of the world climate system's engine-room, said scientist Ken Ridgway.Read about it here.The Southern Ocean, which swirls around Antarctica, has been identified in recent years as the main lung of global climate, absorbing a third of all carbon dioxide taken in by the world's oceans.
Once again the "settled science" turns out to be a lot less settled than the Gorey Gang pretends it is. All the more reason to tread hesitantly when addressing questions of environmental policy.
