news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

Source: Global Times

[Global Times Comprehensive Report] According to CNN on the 3rd, a latest scientific study found that a key part of the Atlantic ocean current system, the "Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation", may collapse from the 1930s, which will have catastrophic consequences for the global climate.

The latest scientific research has found that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation may collapse from the 1930s. Source: CNN

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, also known as the "ocean conveyor belt", is one of the Earth's important climate regulation systems. Its main function is to transport warm seawater, heat, and salt from the southern hemisphere and equatorial tropical regions to the high-latitude North Atlantic; after cooling, it transports the colder and saltier seawater back to the south, repeating the cycle to maintain the balance of the global climate. However, this meridional circulation system has been weakening in recent years due to rising ocean temperatures and damage to salinity caused by human-induced climate change, and is facing a huge risk of complete collapse. This research result, which has just been submitted to a journal for review, predicts through the most advanced scientific model that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is most likely to collapse between 2037 and 2064.

The collapse of the Meridional Circulation has global consequences, with extreme consequences such as the Arctic ice sheet extending southward to southern England; a sharp drop in temperatures in Europe and North America; the Amazon rainforest seasons being completely reversed; temperatures in most parts of Asia becoming colder than they are now; and the large amount of fresh water released by the melting of the Greenland ice sheet may accelerate the collapse of the entire circulation system. Genevin Western, a researcher in ocean and atmosphere at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, said: "This is really worrying. Human-caused climate change will continue all the negative effects, such as more heat waves, droughts and floods. If the 'Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation' collapses again, the global climate will become even more distorted." (Luc)