Thomas Haine is an oceanographer who studies ocean circulation and dynamics and the ocean’s role in climate. His education is in physics (MA Cantab) and physical oceanography (PhD, 1993). His interests include: high-latitude circulation, passive tracer kinematics, rotating-stratified fluid dynamics, data assimilation, and computational oceanography. He is co-author (with Barry Klinger) of a forth-coming graduate textbook in ocean circulation. Haine is the Morton K. Blaustein Chair and Professor of Earth & Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Abstract:
Large freshwater anomalies clearly exist in the Arctic Ocean. The sources of freshwater to the Arctic from precipitation and runoff have increased in the last few decades while the freshwater fluxes draining the Arctic are unchanged. Thus, the balance of sources and sinks of freshwater to the Arctic shifted to freshening during the 2000s. The observed accumulation of freshwater is consistent with this increased supply and the loss of freshwater from sea ice. Discharge of this freshwater may impact the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, and hence Atlantic sector climate.