Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumThe oceans circulation hasnt been this sluggish in 1,000 years. Thats bad news.
The Atlantic Ocean circulation that carries warmth into the Northern Hemispheres high latitudes is slowing down because of climate change, a team of scientists asserted Wednesday, suggesting one of the most feared consequences is already coming to pass.
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation has declined in strength by 15 percent since the mid-20th century to a new record low, the scientists conclude in a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Nature. Thats a decrease of 3 million cubic meters of water per second, the equivalent of nearly 15 Amazon rivers.
The AMOC brings warm water from the equator up toward the Atlantics northern reaches and cold water back down through the deep ocean. The current is partly why Western Europe enjoys temperate weather, and meteorologists are linking changes in North Atlantic Ocean temperatures to recent summer heat waves.
The circulation is also critical for fisheries off the U.S. Atlantic coast, a key part of New Englands economy that have seen changes in recent years, with the cod fishery collapsing as lobster populations have boomed off the Maine coast.
Some of the AMOCs disruption may be driven by the melting ice sheet of Greenland, another consequence of climate change that is altering the regions water composition and interrupts the natural processes.
This is something that climate models have predicted for a long time, but we werent sure it was really happening. I think it is happening, said one of the studys authors, Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. And I think its bad news.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/04/11/the-oceans-circulation-hasnt-been-this-sluggish-in-1000-years-thats-bad-news/?utm_term=.550b4ea82f06
WheelWalker
(8,955 posts)RandomAccess
(5,210 posts)we, the people of the world, climate change would be an international emergency that would require all our efforts and dwarf every other thing we could possibly be concerned about.
Correct.
Climate change and addressing it is the most important issue facing humanity in our age. The changes already coming that we can do nothing about even if we stopped all CO2 emissions today are going to be dramatic. If the Oceans heat dissipating conveyor belt stopped it will be catastrophic.
Snackshack
(2,541 posts)A show stopper for life on this planet as we currently know it.
TEB
(12,842 posts)Goodbye humanity
JoeOtterbein
(7,700 posts)Time for me to head west from PA!
pansypoo53219
(20,977 posts)NickB79
(19,243 posts)The slowing of the Gulf Stream won't counteract global warming. Instead, it will simply prevent excess heat from being more evenly redistributed, leading to skyrocketing temps in the subtropics. Europe may either cool slightly, stay at current temps, or even warm slightly, albeit more slowly than the rest of the planet.