Weakening Atlantic Ocean Currents
The Art
The Science
What’s Alarming
“The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a major mechanism for heat redistribution on our planet and an important factor in climate variability and change. The AMOC is a sensitive nonlinear system dependent on subtle thermohaline density differences in the ocean, and major AMOC transitions have been implicated, for example, in millennial climate events during the last glacial period. There is evidence that the AMOC is slowing down in response to anthropogenic global warming — as predicted by climate models — and that the AMOC is presently in its weakest state for more than 1,000 years. “*
The impacts of the weakening of the AMOC, which includes the influential Gulf Stream, can be seen in more intense storms, cold spells, heat waves and global sea-level rise. “… And it bolsters concerns that if humans are not able to limit warming, the system could eventually reach a tipping point, throwing global climate patterns into disarray.”**
The featured art is based on Figure F of the graph.
* Current Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation weakest in last millennium, L. Caesar, G. D. McCarthy , D. J. R. Thornalley , N. Cahill and S. Rahmstorf
** Jeff Beradelli, CBS News, Feb 26, 2021
