THERMOHALINE CIRCULATION, THE ACHILLES-HEEL OF OUR CLIMATE SYSTEM - WILL MAN-MADE CO2 UPSET THE CURRENT BALANCE

During the last glacial period, Earth's climate underwent frequent lar ge and abrupt global changes, This behavior appears to reflect the abi lity of the ocean's thermohaline circulation to assume more than one m ade oi operation. The record in ancient sedimentary rocks suggests tha t similar abrupt changes plagued the Earth at other times. The trigger mechanism for these reorganizations may have been the antiphasing of polar insolation associated with orbital cycles, Were the ongoing incr ease in atmospheric CO2 levels to trigger another such reorganization, it would be bad news for a world striving to feed 11 to 16 billion pe ople.