Past and possible future influence of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation on the climate responsible for concentration of geopolitical power and wealth in the North Atlantic region
Previous research has shown that nations that controlled global-scale empires over the most recent centuries and presently possess great per-capita wealth are in Earth’s two largest regions of regular moderate rainfall. That rainfall regime is the pattern of atmospheric precipitation most supportive...
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crsagepubl:10.1177/2516019219878561 2023-05-15T17:30:40+02:00 Past and possible future influence of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation on the climate responsible for concentration of geopolitical power and wealth in the North Atlantic region Railsback, L Bruce 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2516019219878561 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2516019219878561 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/2516019219878561 en eng SAGE Publications http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license Journal of Ocean and Climate: Science, Technology and Impacts volume 9, page 251601921987856 ISSN 2516-0192 2516-0192 General Medicine journal-article 2019 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.1177/2516019219878561 2022-04-14T04:44:21Z Previous research has shown that nations that controlled global-scale empires over the most recent centuries and presently possess great per-capita wealth are in Earth’s two largest regions of regular moderate rainfall. That rainfall regime is the pattern of atmospheric precipitation most supportive of agriculture and water-wheel-powered industry, both of which presumably contributed to those nations’ advancement. Those regions of regular moderate rainfall ring the North Atlantic, and this article reviews the evidence that the Gulf Stream delivers warm vapor-releasing water in the upper limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, generating the distinctive climate of western Europe and eastern North America. Ocean circulation’s control on continental climate has thus contributed significantly to the Euro-American concentration of wealth and geopolitical power that has dominated the last few centuries of human history. However, comparison of the present apparent weakening or failure of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation with both the early Holocene 8.2 ka event and modeling of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation’s diminished generation of water vapor suggests that Europe and eastern North America may lose their beneficent climate pattern as rainfall there lessens. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic SAGE Publications (via Crossref) Journal of Ocean and Climate: Science, Technology and Impacts 9 251601921987856 |
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SAGE Publications (via Crossref) |
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English |
topic |
General Medicine |
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General Medicine Railsback, L Bruce Past and possible future influence of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation on the climate responsible for concentration of geopolitical power and wealth in the North Atlantic region |
topic_facet |
General Medicine |
description |
Previous research has shown that nations that controlled global-scale empires over the most recent centuries and presently possess great per-capita wealth are in Earth’s two largest regions of regular moderate rainfall. That rainfall regime is the pattern of atmospheric precipitation most supportive of agriculture and water-wheel-powered industry, both of which presumably contributed to those nations’ advancement. Those regions of regular moderate rainfall ring the North Atlantic, and this article reviews the evidence that the Gulf Stream delivers warm vapor-releasing water in the upper limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, generating the distinctive climate of western Europe and eastern North America. Ocean circulation’s control on continental climate has thus contributed significantly to the Euro-American concentration of wealth and geopolitical power that has dominated the last few centuries of human history. However, comparison of the present apparent weakening or failure of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation with both the early Holocene 8.2 ka event and modeling of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation’s diminished generation of water vapor suggests that Europe and eastern North America may lose their beneficent climate pattern as rainfall there lessens. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Railsback, L Bruce |
author_facet |
Railsback, L Bruce |
author_sort |
Railsback, L Bruce |
title |
Past and possible future influence of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation on the climate responsible for concentration of geopolitical power and wealth in the North Atlantic region |
title_short |
Past and possible future influence of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation on the climate responsible for concentration of geopolitical power and wealth in the North Atlantic region |
title_full |
Past and possible future influence of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation on the climate responsible for concentration of geopolitical power and wealth in the North Atlantic region |
title_fullStr |
Past and possible future influence of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation on the climate responsible for concentration of geopolitical power and wealth in the North Atlantic region |
title_full_unstemmed |
Past and possible future influence of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation on the climate responsible for concentration of geopolitical power and wealth in the North Atlantic region |
title_sort |
past and possible future influence of the atlantic meridional overturning circulation on the climate responsible for concentration of geopolitical power and wealth in the north atlantic region |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2516019219878561 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2516019219878561 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/2516019219878561 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Journal of Ocean and Climate: Science, Technology and Impacts volume 9, page 251601921987856 ISSN 2516-0192 2516-0192 |
op_rights |
http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/2516019219878561 |
container_title |
Journal of Ocean and Climate: Science, Technology and Impacts |
container_volume |
9 |
container_start_page |
251601921987856 |
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1766127542613311488 |