National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Photo: Cooler Climate May Hit N. America, Europe Next Decade


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A map shows the general thermohaline circulation—the large-scale movement of water through the oceans—with warm surface water indicated in red and cold deep water in blue.

A new study suggests that the circulation in the North Atlantic and tropical Pacific will undergo a natural weakening in the coming decade, putting a temporary cool spell over Europe and North America and briefly masking the long-term trend of rising temperatures due to global warming.

Image by Robert Simmon/NASA, adapted from the IPCC 2001 and Rahmstorf 2002