AMOC Collapse

“New study on AMOC [Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation] Collapse published today: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-53401-3.

We already understand how Greenland’s melting ice sheet (5 times faster now than in 2004) is adding freshwater that slows down the Atlantic’s circulation.

This new peer reviewed study published in Nature Communications shows that there is an additional pressure on the AMOC from melting arctic sea ice.

You can see how much of the outflow from the arctic sea comes down Greenland’s east coast to the North Atlantic.

The study shows how in the past (The Last Interglacial, 130,000 years ago) this melting arctic ice had a profound effect on the overturning circulation in the Nordic Sea, the engine of the AMOC, slowing it down dramatically.

The Last Interglacial is an interesting glimpse at our possible future. The seas were six metres higher, the global temperatures were roughly the same as now, but an #AMOC Shutdown saw a dramatic amount of Northern Europe ice over.

Today’s study shows how melting Arctic Sea Ice heaped additional pressure on #AMOC in the past. It doesn’t provide a timeline for the future, or say if this pressure will be decisive, but it makes a very strong case for a lot more research.”