Gulf Stream System Weakening
The Gulf Stream System, also known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) — the major ocean current responsible for circulation in the Atlantic and certain global weather patterns — has weakened by 15 percent in recent decades. This is likely due to an influx of cool freshwater from melting ice sheets that reduces ocean salinity and thus the density of the water, which inhibits the sinking, thus weakening the flow of the Gulf Stream System.
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The fast-melting Arctic is already messing with the ocean’s circulation, scientists say
Feb 26, 2021 | Nature
Anomalously weak Labrador Sea convection and Atlantic overturning during the past 150 years
Feb 26, 2021 | Nature
Observed fingerprint of a weakening Atlantic Ocean overturning circulation
Feb 26, 2021 | Nature Geoscience
Current Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation weakest in last millennium
Earth Systems Signals
Global warming is causing widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere.
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