Keeping a cool head at a time of global warming

30th March 2009

Giancarlo Spezie

Professor of Physical Oceanography at the University of Napoli Parthenope

Biography

Giancarlo Spezie is Professor of Physical Oceanography at the University of Napoli “Parthenope”. His research activity, during last years, has been focused on international Antarctic research programs and national studies on Italian coastlines. In the PNRA (National Project for Antarctic Researches) he is National Coordinator for “Oceanography and Marine Ecology” Area and he is scientific and administrative manager of CLIMA Project. Since February 2005 he is Director of the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Napoli “Parthenope”.

Abstract

The energy equilibrium of the Earth is the result of interactions between the various components that characterise the planet’s environment, such as: Atmosphere and Ocean. Their behaviour and interactions define the climate and its evolution. They are complex systems, whose dynamic involves movements on a broad spectrum of spatio-temporal scales (from metres to thousands of kilometres, from seconds to thousands of years) but whose behaviour on a planetary scale has common dynamic characteristics. The principal motor of atmospheric and oceanic circulation on the global scale is attributed to the non-uniform distribution of solar energy within the land-atmosphere system. On average, the ocean and the atmosphere transport a comparable quantity of heat to the higher latitudes even if the methods of transfer are different. The atmospheric effect is more significant at the middle latitudes, while the ocean is predominant at tropical latitudes. Ocean and atmosphere interact on all temporal and spatial scales, but the respective response times to disturbances are very different. The response times of the ocean system are around two orders of magnitude greater than the response times of the atmosphere, therefore the ocean may be classified as a “slow dynamical system”, while the atmosphere is a “fast dynamical system”. This presentation will focus on the role of the ocean system in the redistribution of heat, in particular the global and Mediterranean ocean circulation system. Attention will be focussed on some critical areas of our planet where research has managed to reveal anomalies that have drastically - in some cases only temporally - affected the marine environment characteristics of the zone. The need for sustainable scientific research is clear, therefore, in order that a global strategy can be planned for continued observation and research, with a view to eliminating the continuing wide gaps in our knowledge.