Salon enso series#

Indeed, AMOC, which scientists believe can slow down or turn off abruptly when temperatures increase, is also vital to maintaining humanity's way of life. This so-called conveyer belt system has been in place for thousands of years or more, and ocean life is adapted to its rhythms. The study reinforces earlier scientific studies which found the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation system to be at its weakest in 1,600 years. The saltier water becomes colder and heavier, sinking and flowing south to create a second 'belt.' Those two currents are in turn connected by other oceanic features in the Southern Ocean, the Labrador Sea and the Nordic Sea.

Salon enso series#

The current system is sometimes likened to a series of conveyer belts: one 'belt' flows north with warm water that, upon reaching the northern Atlantic, cools and evaporates, in the process increasing the salinity of water in that region. The series of currents in question is known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC for short. If current trends continue unabated, they may slow to a dangerous level or even shut down entirely. Niklas Boers, specifically analyzes data on ocean temperature and salinity to demonstrate that their circulation has weakened over the past few decades. A massive Atlantic Ocean current system, which affects climate, sea levels and weather systems around the world, may be about to be fatally disrupted.Ī new report in the journal Nature Climate Change describes how a series of Atlantic Ocean currents have reached 'an almost complete loss of stability over the last century' as the planet continues to warm.