Effects of weakened or nonexistent Gulf Stream?

Zuvarq

If the Gulf Stream didn't exist, northern Europe would be colder of course. But what other effects might it have?

Would the Mediterranean be cooler and wetter? Would this be a net benefit or net detriment?

Also, if we place a butterfly net up to 1000 BC, 300 BC, 200 BC, or 100 BC, how would Europe, Africa, and Asia be affected then on?

Northern Europe... would it stay 'barbarian' forever?
 

ingemann

Banned
Zuvarq said:
If the Gulf Stream didn't exist, northern Europe would be colder of course. But what other effects might it have?

Would the Mediterranean be cooler and wetter? Would this be a net benefit or net detriment?

Also, if we place a butterfly net up to 1000 BC, 300 BC, 200 BC, or 100 BC, how would Europe, Africa, and Asia be affected then on?

Northern Europe... would it stay 'barbarian' forever?
Click to expand...

No it would stay arctic tundra. As for mediterranean it would be like the Great Lake region.
 

phx1138

Zuvarq said:
if we place a butterfly net up to 1000 BC, 300 BC, 200 BC, or 100 BC
Click to expand...
Question is what stops it. If it's change in river direction, & so less fresh water from the Arctic (which is a trigger to stop it IIRC), you're going to get pretty enormous changes in flora & fauna dead bang. Stuff like, say, Neandertal surviving, maybe.:eek: Or much broader range for polar bears & wooly mammoths & such.

IIRC, you're also going to change the amount of ice in the Arctic, which alone is going to change global weather.

Plus, IIRC, you're going to change the productivity of the Atlantic at the Grand Banks, so it's much, much less...
 

Roberto

Part of me wants to say that the Sahara stays green, but I have no idea why that would be. Still, the idea of large, land-based civilizations sandwiched by the Sahel and a chilly inland sea to the north is pretty interesting as far as a different geo-macro-social paradigm goes. Sort of a subversion of the West-to-East hypothesis seen in Guns Germs and Steel.
 
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