Two years ago, I wrote an article summarizing some of the research being done on a potential weakening of a great ocean conveyor current, part of which is the Gulf Stream.
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, is key to climate tendencies in much of western and northern Europe, as well as the eastern coastal regions of North America. AMOC is part of the great thermohaline circulation around the globe, diagrammed by NASA Earth Observatory.
“The onset of a strengthening El Nino is going to add natural fuel to the heating that has been underway for decades from human activity,” writes Don Paul.
There is a crucial relationship between north Atlantic Ocean salinity and the strength of AMOC. Saltier water has greater density. Higher salinity in the northern latitudes allows the cold waters to sink quickly to the seabed and flow equatorward. These waters eventually warm in the tropics, rise and recirculate northward, releasing much of their warmth along the way to the American East Coast and all the way to Europe and its northern latitudes. The Gulf Stream portion of the circulation modifies the climate of even northern latitudes, and lessens the harshness of the winter months, making places such as the Canadian Maritimes, Great Britain and northwest…
Read the full article here
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