Melting Arctic Could Weaken Ocean Currents, Provoking Sudden Ice Age

Two new studies say a melting Arctic could weaken or halt Ocean Currents 

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The scientific evidence of the urgency of taking substantial action to reduce GHG emissions keeps mounting. Among the changes in our oceans driven by Climate Change is the possibility we are damaging our system of ocean currents.

Global warming could shut down major ocean currents, say researchers

Two papers examine how rapidly melting Arctic ice could slow or even halt normal ocean circulation, with northern latitudes getting frigid and Southeast Asia hit by super-droughts.

By: Joby Warrick

WASHINGTON—Two new studies are adding to concerns about one of the most troubling scenarios for future climate change: the possibility that global warming could slow or shut down the Atlantic’s great ocean circulation systems, with dramatic implications for North America and Europe.

The research, by separate teams of scientists, bolsters predictions of disruptions to global ocean currents — such as the Gulf Stream — that transfer tropical warmth from the equator to northern latitudes, as well as a larger conveyor system that cycles colder water into the ocean’s depths.

Both systems help ensure relatively mild conditions in parts of Northern Europe that would otherwise be much colder.

The papers offer insight into how rapidly melting Arctic ice could slow or even temporarily halt the ocean’s normal circulation, with possible effects ranging from plunging temperatures in northern latitudes to centuries-long droughts in Southeast Asia.

Their report, in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, says previous research may have underestimated changes to the ocean from the huge influx of fresh, cold water from melting ice sheets.

About 12,000 years ago, rising temperatures at the end of the last ice age released huge volumes of cold freshwater, disrupting the ocean’s circulation systems and sending parts of the Northern Hemisphere back in to the freezer. Scientists refer to the era as the Younger Dryas period.

“A slowdown of the ocean circulation is a double-edged sword,” said Jud Partin, the lead author and a research associate at the University of Texas Institute of Geophysics. “If we see some temperature changes associated with it … and somehow are quick to act and alleviate the change, then we have the potential to stop it.”

Here in the Pacific Northwest we're seeing unusual temperatures in the ocean and the Salish Sea. This report says this event wasn't related to Climate Change.

              

Vladivostok in Siberia has no warm ocean current offshore to warm it so it is icebound 5 months of the year. Vladivostok is the same latitude as the coast of New Hampshire, and the coast of Northwest Spain which are now warmed by the Gulf Stream. Try to imagine a world where those coastal regions were icebound 5 months of the year.