Researchers finally answered long-standing questions about giant patches of cold water in the Atlantic Ocean, denounced changes in ocean currents due to unexpected cooling.
The anomaly located just south of Greenland, perhaps intuitively called the North Atlantic warming hole, has been annoying scientists for years. Despite stable warming of seawater around the world, this one region has been colder to Fahrenheit (0.3°C 0.3°C) over the past century.
By analyzing sea temperatures and salinity patterns, scientists linked this mystical cooling to a slowing down of a system of ocean currents called the Atlantic Meridian Coverage Circulation (AMOC).
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The changing AMOC is a “weakening of most of the climate system,” David Thornaly, a paleo-oceanist at the University of London University, told Live Science in an email because he was not involved in the new research.
Find the cause
Cold blobs have long been a point of disagreement among oceanographers. Some believe ocean dynamics are responsible, while others suggest that it is caused by air effects such as aerosol pollution, according to a statement from the University of California, Riverside.
These findings, published in the Communications Earth and Environment Journal on May 28th, could provide evidence that Ocean Dynamics is responsible and help resolve disagreements.
Related stories: The major Atlantic currents are decreasing much faster than scientists predicted
With direct AMOC observations only lasted about 20 years, the researchers relied on other data to track movements in old oceans. They used temperature and salinity data correlated with current rates to reveal patterns of AMOCs from the last century and evaluated changes using 94 different marine models.
With a clear timeline of AMOC operation, the researchers found that only models containing slowing Atlantic currents matched actual cooling.
“This is a very robust correlation,” said Kai Yuan Lee, a climate scientist at the University of California, in a statement.
Wide meaning
He says that a better understanding of how AMOC is slowing down will not only explain the cold blob, but also contribute to climate forecasting. The AMOC and the anomalies it produces affect European weather patterns, including rainfall and wind.
Marine ecosystems can be adversely affected by changes in flow, as water temperature and salinity can determine the local habitability of some species.
There are also concerns that AMOC will collapse. Scientists believe it will fall by at least 20% by 2100, but it is unclear whether the collapse is imminent, oceanographer Nicholas Fuchal, at the University of Georgia’s Skidaway Ocean Research Institute, was not involved in the new study.
“In a sense, the argument is not just about how bad the effect is and whether it will happen, but about whether there is time to adapt to the change,” Foukal told Live Science in an email.
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