2023-07-26 03:50:23
According to a new study, there is a possibility of the destruction of the Gulf Stream system as early as 2025. Stopping the Atlantic meridional circulation (AMOC), which is an important ocean current, could lead to catastrophic climatic consequences.
Scientists have already noticed that, due to global warming, the AMOC is in its weakest state in 1,600 years, and is approaching an inflection point in 2021.
The destruction of the AMOC could occur between 2025 and 2095, with an estimated date of 2050, if global carbon emissions are not reduced, according to a new analysis. Historical evidence shows temperature changes of up to 10 degrees over several decades, although this happened during ice ages.
However, other scholars point to significant speculation about how the inflection point will occur. However, they all agree that the destruction of the AMOC is a major concern and should encourage carbon reductions.
AMOC is responsible for transporting warm ocean water north, where it cools and sinks, providing currents in the Atlantic. However, the increased melting of glaciers on Greenland and other sources of fresh water leads to the cessation of these currents.
The destruction of AMOC will have catastrophic consequences around the world, severely disrupting the rainfall on which the food security of billions of people in India, South America and West Africa depends. It will also lead to increased storms and lower temperatures in Europe, as well as rising sea levels on the east coast of North America. In addition, it poses a threat to the Amazon forest and Antarctic glaciers.
“I think we should be very concerned,” said Professor Peter Ditlevsen of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, who led the new study. “It will be a huge change. AMOC hasn’t stopped for 12,000 years.”
The AMOC was destroyed and renewed in the cycle of ice ages from 115,000 to 12,000 years ago.
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