Ocean array acts as climate alert (BBC)

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By Mark Kinver
Science and nature reporter, BBC News

Measurements from a network of monitors stretching across the Atlantic Ocean could offer an early warning of "sudden climate change", scientists have said.

Underwater instruments measuring the temperature and salinity of seawater will detect any change to currents that regulate Europe's climate, they said.

A UK-led team of researchers said the data offered the most detailed picture of the ocean's circulation patterns.

The first set of results were presented at a climate conference in Birmingham.

The array of 19 "moorings" is positioned at points 26.5 degrees north in the Atlantic Ocean, providing an insight to the Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) that acts as the Earth's "heat pump", distributing heat via the ocean from the equator to northern regions.


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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6081458.stm