The Gulf Stream: THC or Wind Driven?

[Earth Hart]

I've just read a post on the Real Climate site. Can anyone help to put my mind at rest as I don't know which way to go? Have a read at RealClimate » Carl Wunsch, The Economist and the Gulf Stream

[eeyore]

They certainly like their big words my understanding was that the principal issue with thwe gulfsteam vis a vis our climate is the formation or otherwise of the odden feature - if the odden feature doesnt form or melts then the gulf stream will shift away from our shores to mid atlantic , making its slowing a moot point as far as the uk is concerned

[Earth Hart]

Originally Posted by eeyore

They certainly like their big words my understanding was that the principal issue with thwe gulfsteam vis a vis our climate is the formation or otherwise of the odden feature - if the odden feature doesnt form or melts then the gulf stream will shift away from our shores to mid atlantic , making its slowing a moot point as far as the uk is concerned

Yes, it's those Big words that are sooo Big that I can't get around. No way am I a climate scientist but have a keen interest in the subject & just wish I could read articles that I can understand.

I've thought the same, but there are many people out there who have agendas.

[eeyore]

I get the impression they have used big words deliberately to make everyone think how clever they are and to confuddle the lay person. I have emailed it to my sister who is a climate scientist (her doctoral thesis was lipid biomarkers in stalagmites , basically analysing trace fats in soil water held in stalagmites and what they can tell us about the habitat above and thus what the climate was like) and have asked her to put the arguments into simple terms

[Earth Hart]

Originally Posted by eeyore

I get the impression they have used big words deliberately to make everyone think how clever they are and to confuddle the lay person. I have emailed it to my sister who is a climate scientist (her doctoral thesis was lipid biomarkers in stalagmites , basically analysing trace fats in soil water held in stalagmites and what they can tell us about the habitat above and thus what the climate was like) and have asked her to put the arguments into simple terms

Thanks eeyore, it would be good to see what she thinks about it. Keep me posted please.

[Paul mabbott]

There lies a problem doesn't it - the bloke's letter is complaining about the mis-use of the term 'gulf stream'. Many people (including the Economist in this case) use 'gulf stream' to denote the whole circulation in the N. Atlantic whereas, as he says, it is only a part of it (that current from the Caribbean to norh-east coast of USA).
The problem then is that if you are discussing the *whole* circulation in any detail (how it works, what will happen to it in certain circumstances &c) then you have to use the *proper* names for all the components (Gulf Stream, THC, North Atlantic Drift &c &c). Is there any way of simplifying these? If a newspaper simplifies too much then (a) nobody really gets the full picture and (b) someone will come along and pick holes in it!

Originally Posted by Earth Hart

Yes, it's those Big words that are sooo Big that I can't get around. No way am I a climate scientist but have a keen interest in the subject & just wish I could read articles that I can understand.

[Dennis1234567]

I just read the article and developed an almighty headache.

[speckled wood]

Originally Posted by Dennis1234567

I just read the article and developed an almighty headache.

It all looks perfectly reasonable to me ..... I think

[Paul mabbott]

This is only a problem if you don't know the basic terminology. There is much worse about:
Invitation to a lecture:
"INDUCTION INTO EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH METHODS: THE
STRIATED AND THE SMOOTH
This paper is concerned with the nature of induction into the field of
educational research. Castells' (1996) idea of the network
highlights the importance of flows between the nodes of the
network and focuses on inclusion in the network rather than the
outcomes of it. Using Deleuze and Guattari's (1998) notions of
smooth and striated space we problematise the sense of
unimpeded, direct movement between the nodes in the network
in relation to the nature of induction into educational research
constituted by, for example, research methods courses, the textual
domain and social and professional practices involved in attending
conferences, collaboration and publication. The nature of the 'flow'
between nodes is, it is argued, governed by the way in which the
practice of academic research is understood and pursued."

Can anyone tell me what that's about?

Originally Posted by speckled wood

It all looks perfectly reasonable to me ..... I think

[Dennis1234567]

That's easy. In laymans terms it says the next train departs from platform seven instead of platform three.

I hear them say that all the time at London Waterloo.