Current Warming Sharpest Climate Change in 5,000 Years

Current Warming Sharpest Climate Change in 5,000 Years

Research on Arctic and North Atlantic ecosystems shows the recent warming trend counts as the most dramatic climate change since the onset of human civilization 5,000 years ago, according to studies published Thursday.

Researchers from Cornell University studied the increased introduction of fresh water from glacial melt, oceanic circulation, and the change in geographic range migration of oceanic plant and animal species.

The team, led by oceanographer Charles Greene, described "major ecosystem reorganization" or "regime shift" in the North Atlantic, a consequence of global warming on the largest scale in five millennia.

"The rate of warming we are seeing (now) is unprecedented in human history," said Greene, whose research appears in the November 2008 issue of the journal Ecology.

November 7, 2008

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081107/sc_afp/environmentclimatewarmingatlantic