Sep 24, 2024 03:36 PM
(This post was last modified: Sep 24, 2024 03:38 PM by C C.)
Study: A key ocean current is holding strong, despite a predicted slowdown
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topsto...r-AA1qWWhp
INTRO: A key current in the wider Atlantic Ocean current system has remained “remarkably stable” over the past four decades, a new analysis suggests.
Published in Nature Communications, the study is the latest salvo in an ongoing debate about the fate of the Gulf Stream and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a system of currents that slowly circulates water in the Atlantic Ocean, bringing warm water north and cold water south. Changes in the AMOC affect regional ocean temperatures, marine ecosystems, weather and more.
As greenhouse gas concentrations rise, the AMOC is predicted to decline — or even collapse — in the future. If that occurs, rapid temperature and climate shifts could follow, dramatically affecting everything from agriculture to disease worldwide. But scientists disagree on whether the AMOC is already slowing, and questions remain as to whether a variety of proxy measurements actually indicate a slowdown.
One way to detect AMOC weakening is to monitor the strength of its components such as the Florida Current, which flows swiftly from the Gulf of Mexico into the North Atlantic. The current is a “major contributor” to the AMOC, the researchers write, and a slowdown of the current might indicate a slowdown of the AMOC. Scientists have been tracking its strength since the 1980s using a submarine cable that measures the volume of water it transports... (MORE - details)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topsto...r-AA1qWWhp
INTRO: A key current in the wider Atlantic Ocean current system has remained “remarkably stable” over the past four decades, a new analysis suggests.
Published in Nature Communications, the study is the latest salvo in an ongoing debate about the fate of the Gulf Stream and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a system of currents that slowly circulates water in the Atlantic Ocean, bringing warm water north and cold water south. Changes in the AMOC affect regional ocean temperatures, marine ecosystems, weather and more.
As greenhouse gas concentrations rise, the AMOC is predicted to decline — or even collapse — in the future. If that occurs, rapid temperature and climate shifts could follow, dramatically affecting everything from agriculture to disease worldwide. But scientists disagree on whether the AMOC is already slowing, and questions remain as to whether a variety of proxy measurements actually indicate a slowdown.
One way to detect AMOC weakening is to monitor the strength of its components such as the Florida Current, which flows swiftly from the Gulf of Mexico into the North Atlantic. The current is a “major contributor” to the AMOC, the researchers write, and a slowdown of the current might indicate a slowdown of the AMOC. Scientists have been tracking its strength since the 1980s using a submarine cable that measures the volume of water it transports... (MORE - details)