[ad_1]
The circulation system of the North Atlantic Ocean, responsible for Ireland's relatively mild climate, has weakened and is expected to further weaken the circulation system of the Atlantic Ocean . The strong ocean circulation has traditionally been badociated with higher temperatures and slower circulation with cooler temperatures, but new research is challenging this view, arguing that a weakened circulation could cause a rise in already high global temperatures.
In an article published by the highly respected academic journal Nature Dr. Gerard McCarthy and Professor Peter Thorne of the Irish Maynooth Climate Analysis and Research Units (ICARUS) badyze the research of Professors Xianyao Chen of the Oceanic University of China and Ka-Kit Tung of Washington University, which challenges our understanding of how variations in a system of ocean currents called Southern Circulation Atlantic (AMOC ) affect global warming rates of the surface.
AMOC is a system of currents that cross the Atlantic Ocean. characterized by a northward flow of warm water in the upper layers of the Atlantic and a southward flow of colder and deeper waters. The most known current of the Irish population is the Gulf Stream, which has long been widely recognized as protecting Ireland from extreme weather conditions and conferring the country its famous wet and mild climate.
On a global scale, AMOC has been conventionally seen as a vigorous force badociated with high surface temperatures across the Atlantic Ocean, this new research rather emphasizes the role of the AMOC. AMOC in heat capture and preservation in the ocean depths
to 1998, but this growth has slowed for 15 years – an event that has attracted popular attention as a "hiatus". Since then, we have experienced the four hottest years recorded; 2014-2017. However, McCarthy and Thorne emphasize that as climate change is a complex response to slowly changing external factors, it is essential to re-examine and try to fully understand past climate behavior and its underlying causes. They argue that the researches of Professors Chen and Tung could explain the cause of this hiatus, and that understanding the mechanisms behind it can help us prepare for future climate change.
Atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases are increasing at an unprecedented rate. is widely understood as a driver of global warming. Chen and Tung claim that half of the heat from increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases is stored in the deep waters of the North Atlantic when AMOC is high, reducing overall warming of the planet.
The surface warming was observed is the one in which the AMOC was robust and increases in strength. The fact that it can so effectively accomplish this heat transfer function far under the ocean can explain the reduction of global warming.
Dr. Gerard McCarthy explains why this matters for the future of global temperatures: "The AMOC has been deemed" very likely "to weaken in the next few decades.In fact, the Atlantic Ocean has have seen moderate increases in surface temperature relative to the global ocean in recent decades.This relative lack of warming has been interpreted as an imprint of AMOC decline. "
" If AMOC observatories will document the predicted decline remains to be seen, but they have already observed that AMOC is in a weakened state and the Atlantic is "Chen and Tung predict that a so weak AMOC will result in a period of rapid warming of the surface of the globe which, if it lasts as the last similar period, could last. for more than two decades. This in turn could have disastrous consequences for the global climate and make managing the challenges of global climate change even more difficult. "
Source link
