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from the Arctic Ice Forum
Feb. 2nd, 2026 01:11 pmBruce Steele January 30, 2026, 04:50:10 PM (radio broadcaster and scientist)
"Winter ice formation in the Sea of Okhotsk drives very cold salty water to the bottom of the Okhotsk , it then slips out to the Pacific and South to where it is mixed with the South flowing Oyashio current and forms Pacific intermediate waters which move East across the Pacific and upwell along the North American continent about thirty years later. There is no deep water formation in the North Pacific and if ice in the Okhotsk gets weak enough I would suggest the intermediate water formation processes will begin to fail. I don't know all the biological implications but without the nutrients that are carried with the Intermediate waters the upwelling along the North American continent will cause much of its rich sea life to suffer declining health, thirty or forty years from now."
"Winter ice formation in the Sea of Okhotsk drives very cold salty water to the bottom of the Okhotsk , it then slips out to the Pacific and South to where it is mixed with the South flowing Oyashio current and forms Pacific intermediate waters which move East across the Pacific and upwell along the North American continent about thirty years later. There is no deep water formation in the North Pacific and if ice in the Okhotsk gets weak enough I would suggest the intermediate water formation processes will begin to fail. I don't know all the biological implications but without the nutrients that are carried with the Intermediate waters the upwelling along the North American continent will cause much of its rich sea life to suffer declining health, thirty or forty years from now."