Adolf Hitler started World War II in September 1939, and initiated the longest and biggest climate change of the last century. This book is about oceans, wars at sea and climate changes. It focuses on two major climate changes, which happened because man abused oceans through naval warfare two times during the last century.
The severe winter period in North Europe lasted from mid-December 1939 until April 1940. It was the coldest for more than 100 years. Allowing navies to participate in a war at sea, in Northern Europe natural heat reservoir, is like hastily stirring a hot soup to cool it down for quick consumption. Once the heat storage of North Sea and Baltic Seas has been diminished, water will warm again only during the next year summer.
The statistics for the war winter temperatures between 1939 and 1942 is nothing less than a “Big Bang”. In five out of six locations nothing comparable has ever happened since temperature observations have been made.
The chapter will focus on the warming trend (1918-1939) and on the cooling trend (1939-1980). Naval war and supply across the seas became part of ocean physics for a long time. Correspondingly climatic changes during WWII have two distinct periods, namely the period before Pearl Harbour and the period thereafter. From September 1939 until early 1942, naval warfare was largely confined to European waters, than war at sea became a global matter.
The book shows that the war activities on sea during WWI and WWII correlate perfectly with the only two significant climatic changes between 1900 and 2000. The first one started in 1918 and lasted until 1939, while the second started in the winter of 1939/40 and came to an end in the early 1980s. The temperature rise during the recent 25 years can have “new causes”, but it might as well be a resume of the steep temperature rise between 1918 and 1939, interrupted by WWII.
Hot topic
2010-02-18
Different sea ice conditions: 1939/40 & 2009/10.
A matter of naval war?
Prepared on 15th February 2010 (Top-right image – SST 14. Feb. 2010)
Excerpt from Wikipedia, Feb.15, 2010: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_2009%E2%80%932010_in_Europe
“The winter of 2009–2010 in Europe has been unusually cold with atypical snowfalls in several parts of the Northern Hemisphere. In January 2010, the northern half of Europe experienced one of its coldest winters since 1981–1982. Starting on 16 December 2009 light snowfalls and weather warnings took place. A persistent weather pattern brought cold moist air from the north …. and saw many parts of Europe experiencing heavy snowfall and record low temperatures. “
From Admiral Danish Fleet Report 13/Feb./2010: http://forsvaret.dk/SOK/eng/National/Ice/Ice_Reports/Pages/2010-02-13.aspx Kattegat: There are areas thin open drift ice, new ice and pancake ice overall in Kattegat. Along east facing coastlines and in sheltered bay and inlets there are close drift ice, new ice and fast ice up to about 30 cm thick. Belt sea the Sound and western Baltic: There are areas with close to open drift ice and fast ice up to about 50 cm thick.
COMMENT: The winter 2009/2010 is one of the coldest since WWII, but the sea ice conditions in the Baltic Sea and Kattegat are very different. The sea ice in winter 1939/40 was one of the most severe, and the first year after 1883 with the highest ice cover possible, while the current sea ice conditions are modest in comparison. What is the reason? Was naval war the cause in 1939/40?