首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Global warming could actually chill down North America within just a few decades, according to a new study that says a sudden co
Global warming could actually chill down North America within just a few decades, according to a new study that says a sudden co
admin
2017-04-20
40
问题
Global warming could actually chill down North America within just a few decades, according to a new study that says a sudden cooling event gripped the region about 8,300 years ago.
Analysis of ancient moss from Newfoundland, Canada, links an injection of freshwater from a burst glacial lake to a rapid drop in air temperatures by a few degrees Celsius along North America’s East Coast. This event created a colder year-round climate with a much shorter growing season for about 150 years, from northern Canada to what is now Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The results suggest that North America’s climate is highly sensitive to meltwater flowing into the ocean, said lead study author Tim Daley of Swansea University in the U. K. The work also means that history could repeat itself; Currently Greenland’s ice sheet is melting at a rapid clip, releasing freshwater into the North Atlantic. In a worst-case scenario, the authors say, a sudden melt could trigger another regional cooling event—although other experts say today’s extreme, human-driven warming might cancel out any strong cooling effect.
Daley and colleagues studied mosses dating back more than 8, 700 years that were preserved in a Newfoundland peat bog. The ratios of two different types of oxygen in the mosses allowed the team to trace changes in atmospheric temperature over time. When air temperatures are lower, the mosses contain less oxygen-18, a heavier version of the more common type, oxygen-16. About 8,350 years ago, the amount of oxygen-18 relative to oxygen-16 suddenly dropped, the team reports in the September issue of the journal Geology. Previous research had found that, around the same time, a northern ice dam burst, releasing the contents of a vast glacial lake into the Labrador Sea, between Canada and Denmark. Normally a warm ocean current called the Gulf Stream runs up the east coast of North America, helping to keep the region balmier than it should be, considering how far north it is. But the entire glacial lake drained within less than a year, injecting a huge pulse of freshwater into the North Atlantic Ocean. Daley and colleagues think the lake water diluted the salty ocean current and slowed the Gulf Stream, which in turn led to rapid cooling in North America. "As a result, Canadian summer temperatures would have been similar to those currently experienced in autumn or spring," said team member Neil Loader, also of Swansea University. Climate records from Greenland and Europe also show a sudden cooling during the same time period, but this is the first clear evidence for a North American chill.
The moss data show that current climate models "significantly underestimate the impact and duration of the climate perturbation resulting from the megaflood," said Swansea team member Alayne Perrott. This means these same models might not be accurately predicting what might happen in the future if Greenland’s ice sheet continues to melt. However, some scientists say that the data showing a prehistoric North American cool down may only indicate a coastal phenomenon.
"The study site is very close to the North Atlantic Ocean, and it is very likely that the climate change is primarily an oceanic signal," said Hans Renssen, a climate researcher at Vrije University in Amsterdam, who was not involved in the study. As for whether today’s melt in Greenland could trigger another round of cooling, Renssen thinks it’s possible, but he doesn’t believe the change would be as dramatic as last time. In fact, he said, any future cooling is likely to be overwhelmed by human-caused warming, "resulting in no cooling in North America at all, only less warming than without the event."
It can be learned from Paragraph Four and Paragraph Five that________.
选项
A、different studies may reveal different aspects of the issue
B、it’s still hard to predict the future of earth’s climate change
C、no matter getting warmer or cooler, the climate is changing for sure
D、what might happen along the coast is not likely to happen in other areas
答案
B
解析
推断题。第四段对上面的实验做出了总结,但同时又提出了一种新的观点,第五段又对这一不同的观点进行了解释,因此,到目前为止,科学家们都还没有对地球是会变暖还是会变冷得出统一的结论。所以[B]为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/PkzK777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
AccordingtoDr.Getsy,mostpeoplewhocomplainoftroubleinsleepingarethosewho
WhichofthefollowingwritersisanAmericanpoetofthe19thcentury?
ThisiscensusyearinAmerica,andalthoughwehesitatetopre-empttheresultsofamightyexercisethatwillinvolveoveram
Educationistheprocessoflearningandknowing,whichisnotrestrictedtoourschooltext-books.Itisaholisticprocessan
Educationistheprocessoflearningandknowing,whichisnotrestrictedtoourschooltext-books.Itisaholisticprocessan
BiancaSforzaattractedfewstareswhenintroducedtotheartworldonJanuary30,1998.Shewasjustaprettyfaceinaframet
Necessarymeditationsontheactual,includingthemeanbread-and-cheesequestion,dissipatedthephantasmalforawhile,andco
TheGermaneconomygrewby______inthethirdquarteroftheyear.
Inthecompetitivemodel—theeconomyofmanysellerseachwithasmallshareofthetotalmarket—therestraintontheprivateex
Therearearound6,000languagesintheworldtoday.AtleasttherewereuntilJanuaryof2001.ThenCarlosWestezdied.Westez
随机试题
下列关于孔板的定义最确切的是,孔板是一块()的薄板。
提示急性胰腺炎预后不良的是
毛细胞白血病属于特殊类型的
慢性阻塞性肺疾病的主要特征是
当机体处于强烈的应激状态时,可表现出心率加快,血压升高,呼吸加速,血糖升高,这些生理反应说明哪个系统活动增强
铁路隧道锚喷支护中喷射混凝土的作用有()。
对从业人员“追求真理”的具体要求包括()
给定资料:1.2013年,西安出现了4次连续8天以上的重度污染天气,关中地区空气质量跌到了近年来的谷底,这一切让陕西省环保厅厅长王成文感到头大。2013年3月29日,陕西全省大气污染治理专题会议召开。短短10天后,《陕西省“治污降霾-保
各区(县)人民政府,市各局委办,市各直属机关:近年来,应广大群众的要求,我市逐步放开了烟花爆竹销售市场,但烟花爆竹销售还存在着管理不规范、监督不到位、销售不合法的现象,不仅影响了市场秩序,而且带来了一定的安全隐患。鉴于此,为规范我市烟花爆竹销售市
A、Physics.B、Mathematics.C、Environmentalscience.D、Lifescience.A
最新回复
(
0
)