Can Climate Change Make Atlantic Deep Ocean Circulation Unstable?
Thursday, February 20, 2014 - 16:40
in Earth & Climate
Deep waters formed in the northern North Atlantic fill approximately half of the deep ocean globally. As you might gather, that impacts the circum-Atlantic climate and regional sea levels and soaks up much of the excess atmospheric carbon dioxide from industrialization. Changes in this circulation mode are considered by some to be a potential tipping point in future climate change that could have widespread and long-lasting impacts including on regional sea level, the intensity and pacing of Sahel droughts, and the pattern and rate of ocean acidification and CO2 sequestration. But this pattern of circulation has been relatively stable during warm climate states such as those projected for the end of the century. read more
