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"Global Warming Will Weaken Earth’s Strongest Ocean Current, New Study Predicts" originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment.
Summary
A recent study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters highlights that freshwater from melting Antarctic ice is expected to weaken the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) by 20% within the next 25 years. This weakening poses significant risks, including heightened climate variability, increased extremes in weather patterns, and accelerated global warming.
The ACC is a crucial ocean current that facilitates the exchange of heat, carbon dioxide, and nutrients across ocean basins. Its slowdown could lead to stagnant ocean conditions, resulting in marine heatwaves and rising sea levels. As ocean temperatures rise, particularly off eastern Australia, the impacts on ecosystems like coral reefs have already been felt.
Highlights
- 🌊 Antarctic Circumpolar Current Weakening: Projected to weaken by 20% in the next 25 years due to melting ice.
- 🌡️ Climate Variability Risks: Increased variability could lead to more extreme weather patterns globally.
- 🌍 Ocean Currents and Climate: The ACC is a vital climate engine, mixing waters and regulating temperatures across the globe.
- 🌊 Marine Ecosystem Threats: Weaker currents may result in stagnant waters, increasing marine heatwaves and toxic algal blooms.
- 🌊 Rising Ocean Temperatures: Off the coast of eastern Australia, temperatures are already 3 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit above average.
- 🌎 Increased Sea Level Rise: A slowdown of the ACC could accelerate sea level rise, affecting coastal regions.
- ❄️ Melting Ice Impact: Freshwater from melting Antarctic ice significantly affects the ACC more than temperature changes.
The slowdown of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current could have ‘dire’ consequences, including greater climate variability and accelerated global warming.
Fresh water from melting Antarctic ice is projected to weaken the world’s most powerful ocean current by 20 percent in the next quarter century, an international team of scientists concluded in a study published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
A weakening of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current—one of Earth’s strongest climate engines—would have dire consequences, including “more climate variability, with greater extremes in certain regions, and accelerated global warming,” said lead author Bishakhdatta Gayen, an associate professor of fluid mechanics at the University of Melbourne.
Read the full post at Inside Climate News.
