ONE of the central questions in understanding past and future climates concerns the North Atlantic conveyor and how it might respond to increasing anthropogenic greenhouse gases and changes in the net flux of fresh water into its basin. As he reportson page 145 of this issue, Rahmstorf has now undertaken a detailed study of the sensitivity of the conveyor to changes in freshwater input, using a global ocean model coupled to a very simple atmospheric model. His results suggest that the present-day conveyor may be less stable than many researchers have thought. He further suggests that a continual 0.06 x 10~6, m~3 s~(-1) of additional fresh water (about a quarter of the discharge rate of the Amazon river) into the North Atlantic could irreversibly shut down the conveyor with a pronounced cooling effect on the surrounding areas.
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机译：了解过去和未来气候的中心问题之一是北大西洋输送带及其如何应对不断增加的人为温室气体和流向其盆地的淡水净通量的变化。正如Rahmstorf在本期杂志第145页的报道中所言，他已使用全球海洋模型和非常简单的大气模型对输送机对淡水输入变化的敏感性进行了详细研究。他的结果表明，当今的传送带可能不如许多研究人员想象的那样稳定。他进一步建议，连续0.06 x 10〜6，m〜3 s〜（-1）的额外淡水（约占亚马逊河排放量的四分之一）进入北大西洋可能会导致输送带不可逆转地关闭。对周围区域有明显的冷却效果。
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