Perhaps our global warming of the oceans isn’t as severe as predicted.
New research offers a rare glimmer of hope for the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a system of ocean currents critical to global climate stability.
Scientists have identified a back-up system in the Arctic that may bolster the slowing AMOC and reduce the risk of catastrophic climate impacts — for now.
The AMOC, often described as a giant conveyor belt, transports warm water northwards and returns cold water south at depth, regulating weather systems across Europe and North America.
However, climate change is threatening its key mechanism: the sinking of dense, salty water in the Nordic Seas. Rising temperatures and freshwater from melting ice are making surface waters too light to sink, reducing dense water formation.
Now, a study led by Marius Årthun of the University of Bergen, published in Science Advances, has identified a compensatory process in the Arctic.
As the Barents Sea warms and loses ice cover — a phenomenon known as “Atlantification” — denser waters are forming farther north, helping to sustain the AMOC.
“We find that this decrease [in dense water formation] in the Nordic Seas has been compensated for by more dense water formation in the Barents Sea and north of Svalbard,” Årthun said. “There are processes that add resilience to the AMOC, perhaps making a serious weakening or collapse less likely.”
Despite this hopeful finding, concerns remain.
“The Arctic does not have this type of setting,” cautioned Nicholas Foukal of the University of Georgia, referring to the unique cold, deep environment of the Greenland Sea. “I doubt that these really dense waters are being formed in the Arctic.”
As warming continues, the long-term sustainability of this Arctic support system remains uncertain — but for now, it may buy the world valuable time.
Arctic ‘back-up system’ could delay collapse of key Atlantic currents appeared first on Energy Live News.