Circulation of water in the Atlantic Ocean has slowed due to
climate change, according to a team of scientists from the Potsdam
Institute for the Study of Climate Change in Germany.
The North Atlantic Current, which carries heat to the high latitudes
of the Northern Hemisphere, has become weaker by 15% since the mid-20th
century to a “new record low”, scientists concluded. The flow of water
has decreased by 3 million cubic meters per second, which is equivalent
to almost 15 Amazon rivers.
The current transfers warm water from the equator to the northern
corners of the Atlantic, and cold water – back down through the ocean
depths. Due to the current in Western Europe, moderate weather, and
meteorologists associate temperature changes in the North Atlantic with
recent summer heat waves.
Circulation is important for fishing along the Atlantic coast of the
United States, which is a key part of the New England economy, which has
undergone strong changes in recent years – due to the loss of cod and
the lobster population growing off the coast of Maine.
Partly the slowing of the North Atlantic current can be explained by
the melting of the ice sheet of Greenland, which changes the water
composition in the region and disrupts natural processes.
But completely the role of climate change in the slowing of the ocean
current is not clear, and another study has come to somewhat different
conclusions.
Scientists from Reading University found that the North Atlantic
Current has slowed in the last 150 years. They believe that now it is
weaker than at any other time in several millennia.
Two studies have differences. The second work suggests that the
slowdown probably began for natural reasons around the time of the
industrial revolution in 1850, and was not triggered by anthropogenic
climate change. But, as in the first study, the second one believes that
the circulation will remain weak or even weaker during the current era
of warming.
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