North Atlantic Circulation Patterns Reveal Seas of Change
https://eos.org/articles/north-atlantic-circulation-patterns-reveal-seas-of-change
Source: By Mary Caperton Morton, Eos/AGU.
Excerpt: Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), involving the deep-ocean mixing of warm, salty waters with colder, fresher waters in the North Atlantic, is a major influencer of Earth’s climate. As warm tropical currents journey north, pushed by prevailing winds, they cool, become denser, and sink in a process known as overturning. Historically, most models have shown that the bulk of this overturning occurs in the Labrador Sea, west of Greenland. But a new study indicates that the eastern North Atlantic between Greenland and Scotland may actually be the dominant overturning venue. ... As the overturning of seawater in the North Atlantic changes, so does the ocean’s ability to absorb and store atmospheric carbon, Lozier says. “Since the Industrial Revolution, the oceans have taken up about a third of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide humans have produced.” Half of that carbon dioxide is now sequestered in the deep ocean, including the North Atlantic. “If the overturning slows down, the ocean will take up less anthropogenic carbon, which would leave more anthropogenic carbon in the atmosphere, which could trigger rapid warming.”...
Source: By Mary Caperton Morton, Eos/AGU.
Excerpt: Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), involving the deep-ocean mixing of warm, salty waters with colder, fresher waters in the North Atlantic, is a major influencer of Earth’s climate. As warm tropical currents journey north, pushed by prevailing winds, they cool, become denser, and sink in a process known as overturning. Historically, most models have shown that the bulk of this overturning occurs in the Labrador Sea, west of Greenland. But a new study indicates that the eastern North Atlantic between Greenland and Scotland may actually be the dominant overturning venue. ... As the overturning of seawater in the North Atlantic changes, so does the ocean’s ability to absorb and store atmospheric carbon, Lozier says. “Since the Industrial Revolution, the oceans have taken up about a third of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide humans have produced.” Half of that carbon dioxide is now sequestered in the deep ocean, including the North Atlantic. “If the overturning slows down, the ocean will take up less anthropogenic carbon, which would leave more anthropogenic carbon in the atmosphere, which could trigger rapid warming.”...