The Atlantic Ocean is nearing a “catastrophic” tipping point

Circulation of ocean currents controls the temperature of the Atlantic Ocean.

According to a study published on Friday, the system is approaching a critical tipping point.

The collapse of this system will be so rapid that any adaptation will be impossible.

We sometimes forget how much the oceans stabilize our climate. Not only do they cover most of the Earth’s surface, but they also store enormous amounts of energy, thus participating in the regulation of the world. But how long? A study published this Friday, February 9, shows that the circulation of currents in the Atlantic Ocean is moving towards a critical tipping point. “Bad news for the climate system and humanity”.

Climatic implications of such collapse

In detail, a team of Dutch researchers wanted to develop an indicator “Early warning“On what meteorologists call”Reversal rotation“. Called AMOC in English – for Atlantic Southern Overturning Circulation – this concept describes this giant ocean treadmill, which redistributes the heat, carbon and nutrients necessary for life around the planet. Approaching the Arctic Circle, this flow cools and sinks into the depths.the sea.

However, based on computer models and previous data, the researchers confirmed that the phenomenon is declining and may be irreversible. That’s because Greenland’s glaciers and Arctic ice caps are melting faster than expected, dumping fresh water into the ocean and preventing saltwater from flowing south.

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Based on the salt levels of certain areas located at the southern end of the Atlantic Ocean, between Cape Town and Buenos Aires, the team revealed that erosion from this natural process could cause a sudden collapse in less than 100 years. Then the results will be disastrous. “This is bad news for the climate system and humanity”Emphasis on researchers. “Because, until now, we can think that the AMOC shift is just a theoretical concept and that it will disappear as soon as we consider the entire climate system.” In their study, researchers from the Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (Emau) in the Netherlands said that the speed at which they were shocked, once the tipping point was reached, could have caused the collapse.

AMOC collapse radically changes the redistribution of heat

Researchers from the Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (IMAU).

So the breaking point seems to be irreversible. Among the results cited by the Dutch team, we note a one-meter rise in the level of the Atlantic Ocean in certain regions, a change in seasons in the Amazon and a deregulation of all global temperatures. Changes that would occur ten times faster than observed today would make adaptation nearly impossible. However, it should be remembered that currently, no studies have identified when this shift might occur. So far, there is no consensus on the magnitude of this decline, with one study predicting that the breaking point could be between 2025 and 2095.