Scientists Discover Previously Unknown Mechanism Significantly Impacting Earth’s Climate

A groundbreaking study has uncovered a previously unknown mechanism that significantly influences Earth’s climate.

The research was conducted by Hebrew University’s Ph.D. candidate, Kaushal Gianchandani, under the guidance of Professors Nathan Paldor and Hezi Gildor from the Institute of Earth Sciences at the Hebrew University, in collaboration with Prof. Ori Adam and Sagi Maor from the Hebrew University along with Dr Alexander Farnsworth and Prof. David Lunt from the University of Bristol, UK.

This cutting-edge research, published in Nature Communication, applies a novel analytic model developed by the three Hebrew University researchers two years ago, focusing on wind-driven circulation at the ocean’s surface and highlighting the pivotal role of ocean basin geometry.

This study explores the climate during the Cretaceous period, around 145 to 66 million years ago when there was a lot of carbon dioxide (warming gas) in the air. It looks at how big ocean swirls, which move warm water from the tropics to the poles, influenced the temperature difference between these two regions. This temperature difference is crucial for understanding why there were so many different kinds of plants and animals during the Cretaceous period.

In their research, the scientists aimed to uncover the complex relationship between changes in ocean current patterns (gyral circulation) that result from the arrangement of continents on Earth and variations in temperature gradients during the Cretaceous era when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. To do this, they conducted a thorough analysis using computer models that simulate ancient climates.

Their findings revealed that the movement of Earth’s continents during the Cretaceous period caused a slowdown in the large swirling ocean currents responsible for carrying warm water from the equator to the poles. This slowdown disrupted the way the ocean regulated its surface temperatures, resulting in a significant increase in temperature differences between the poles and the tropics during that time. These findings align with geological evidence from the Cretaceous era, providing a more comprehensive understanding of past climate dynamics.

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