Posted on 08/09/2021 5:42:33 AM PDT by bert
The AMOC, which contains the Gulf Stream, is currently at its weakest state in over 1,000 years, and new evidence has indicated that it could already be nearing complete shutdown.
Climate scientists have detected early warning signs that the Gulf Stream is in a state of collapse, indicating that it may have already been losing stability over the last century, which could lead to severe consequences for the climate, a new study reported.
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a major Atlantic ocean current, to which the Gulf Stream belongs, and at the top of the ocean it transports warm water masses from the tropics northward, while cold water is transported south, at the ocean bottom. It influences weather systems worldwide, making the consequences of a potential collapse all the more dangerous. The AMOC is currently at its weakest state in over 1,000 years, meaning the currents have slowed, and new evidence has indicated that it could already be nearing complete shutdown. Such an event is considered one of the tipping points of climate change, which are defined as large, fast, and irreversible changes to the climate.
In the event of the AMOC collapse, rainfall would be disrupted in India, South America and West Africa, which would cause mass food shortages. Increasing storms and colder temperatures would be felt across Europe, and the sea level would rise off the eastern coast of North America. The Amazon rainforest and Antarctic ice sheets would be further endangered.
However, due to the complex nature of the AMOC, and the uncertainty of future global warming caused by tipping points, there is no way of knowing how close to total collapse the system is. Scientists say it could happen within the next decade at soonest, but that several centuries could still pass before it does, and that there is no way to accurately estimate the time-frame. "We urgently need to reconcile our models with the presented observational evidence to assess how far from or how close to its critical threshold the AMOC really is," said author of the study, Niklas Boers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Freie Universität Berlin and Exeter University. Boers explained that the C02 level which would trigger an AMOC collapse is also unknown, which means that the only possible thing to do in order to prevent it from happening is to keep emissions as low as possible.
"The likelihood of this extremely high-impact event happening increases with every gram of C02 we put into the atmosphere," he stated.
A number of factors besides C02 emissions also factor into the breakdown of the AMOC system, including freshwater inflow, which is also directly linked to climate change. As the Greenland ice sheet melts, it increases the amount of freshwater flowing into the sea. Freshwater is lighter than saltwater which means it prevents water from sinking to the bottom of the ocean, a process which is key to the continued movement of the AMOC.
While the timeframe and exact trigger for the event are unknown, scientists are certain about one thing - that the collapse of the AMOC must never be allowed to happen.
Covid is worldwide but increasingly boring
Climate Change is the up and coming narrarive
Floods everywhere, drought and no water, power failure, fires.
Now the Gulf Stream. That means an end to England and Europe as they freeze because they are so stupid they won't burn coal or oil
In about 300 years according to their most dire predictions.
The sky is falling!!!
“The AMOC is currently at its weakest state in over 1,000 years...”
I wonder who was measuring it 1,000 years ago.
Maybe the tree huggers could get out their blow dryers and help it out.
Didn’t Hollywood make a horrible movie where this stopping pretty much brought on an ice age and killed a few hundred million people?
Seems the seeds of despair were planted, now time to water it and bring forth the taxation fruit.
Someone should tell all the people in the east of the U.S. complaining about wildfire smoke that drifted from the west coast that the gulf stream is about as weak as Hillary or Biden trying to walk.
There go Oprah and Gayle King to Obamas super spreader party. I’m sure she will tell the little people not to fly due to carbon emissions.
The glaciation cycle is 200-250k years in length... we are now nearing the end of the latest where temps shoot up dramatically before dropping just as quickly (over a 10,000 year period).
As we were taught in school... the upwelling if the Atlantic will occur causing the gulf stream to shutdown...
This will usher in a new ice age in the northern hemisphere that will lower global temps and ocean levels..!
This is a normal cycle... and not due to man made global warming...
“I wonder who was measuring it 1,000 years ago.”
And what did THEY do to fix it?
“Climate scientists have detected...”
Whenever you see this you KNOW that everything that comes after is bullsh!t.
I agree that the relative salinity of the oceans at different latitudes may be an input into the strength of the Gulf Stream, howerver, the Gulf Stream is powered by solar heating of the Gulf of Mexico- that warm water MUST flow through the Florida Straits, an exit into the Atlantic, where it goes from there will still be dictated by the location of the North American continental shelf.
I have been hearing this salinity red herring herring since the late 1970s. The “experts” warned of the dangers then. That was fifty years ago. It ain’t happening. This is speculation at best, scaremongering at worst. I can say comfortably, that this scaremongering is as reliable as the Gulf Stream.
The Earth is a Globe, the equators will ALWAYS get more warming and the POLES will ALWAYS be cold. Convection currents will redistribute this energy imbalance. Ocean salinity is a blip on the radar, but not the real story.
Yes, yes, and it will actually fall if you don’t give us your (or your neighbor’s) money!
The thermal effect of CO2 levels off at ~400PPM, which is where we are now. Increasing levels will improve almost all food productivity.
The Gulf stream has always been a bit of a mystery. And, saying that “we must save it” is like praying to some golden idol cause Crazy Harry is foaming at the mouth again and speaking in tongues. Get a grip.
“The likelihood of this extremely high-impact event happening increases with every gram of C02 we put into the atmosphere,” he stated.
Well..the pig better get after the chicoms then. OH wait, they have no money and they are third world, so it doesnt involve them.
When the hells the American Patriot gonna get sick and tired of these leeches...After all. Seems that Dr Mengele Fauci is attempting to kill off a few billion and these creeps think the earth is gonna fry, so maybe killing those creeps off would do better.
so in the 1920’s who were the people driving SUV’s destroying the Gulf Stream? Who? Who?
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