Ocean
Science Meeting
22-26
February 2010, Oregon Convention Center, Portland/Oregon
Is
the climatic shift since winter 1939/40 a sea related matter?
Poster Control ID:
744077
ABSTRACT:
The role of the North and Baltic Sea is analyzed in regard to the
sudden climatic shift 70 years ago that concurred in time and location
with the commencement of World War II, with three extreme cold winters
in Europe, 1939/40 to 1941/42. Simultaneously the shift marked also
the start of a three decade long global cooling.
The examination of air temperature data series (Nasa/Giss) and other
meteorological developments reveal that there is a direct or indirect
correlation to the naval war activities in the North and Baltic Sea.
This applies until the winter 1941/1942 from whereon the naval war
went global for another four years. As global temperatures had been
getting milder since about 1850 particular attention is given to the
winter 1939/40, as it was the coldest in central Northern Europe for
more than 100 years. The most affected locations lay close to those
sea areas with the highest naval activities, e.g. the North Sea
section from The Netherlands to Denmark, and in the Southern and
Central Baltic Sea. The temperature profile for Europe in winter
1939/40 points to a noticeable contribution by human activities in the
form of naval warfare.
Similar observations can be made for the two subsequent war winters.
After the invasion of Norway in 1940 the Skagerrak region experienced
a record cold winter. The next most severe winter conditions in
1941/42 can be attributed to the realm of the Eastern Baltic Sea where
naval force had been active since Germany had attacked Russia in June
1941. A significant fact of the three extreme winters is their
appearance in succession, which is rare in the region, as a Swedish
scientist noted already in 1942. Such three cold winter have never
been observed before or after WWII.
The sudden increase of human activities in the marine environment
could have worked like a huge field experiment, and any confirmation
of the naval war thesis, or evident exclusion would enhance ocean
science on climatic matters. Furthermore, a more in depth knowledge
about the first three war winter is a paramount precondition for a
thorough discussion of the global cooling period from 1940 to the
1970s, which is still a not fully understood aspect in the climate
change debate. Full Poster
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