Experts and climatologists from all over the world have been studying the effects of one for some time possible massive melting of the ice of Antarctica and, according to a recent study, there would also be a rapid slowdown of deep ocean currents.
Global warming, by pushing up the mercury column, is bringing the temperatures at the Poles ever closer to zero, ever closer to fusion point. Among the negative effects of an excessive melting of the glaciers that today cover Antarctica there is not only the rise in sea levels, but also a destabilization of marine currentseven the deepest ones.
How the temperature of the ocean floor will change: in the first image the situation between 2001 and 2010, in the second the projection for the decade 2021-2030, in the third the forecast for the period 2041-2050. Credits Abyssal ocean overturning slowdown and warming driven by Antarctic meltwater
Research carried out by Australian scientists and published in Nature, in fact, has highlighted how the melting of Antarctic ice could, in just 3 decades, lead to a rapid slowdown of deep currents. In fact, the currents could slow down by 40% by 2050. According to the scientists, the conspicuous spill of fresh water into the surrounding marine waters could, in addition to raise sea levelAlso alter weather patterns and deprive marine life of a vital source of nutrients.
Melting ice in Antarctica could slow deep ocean currents
The currents flowing in the deep sea 4000 meters from the ocean surface they originate in cold, dense waters that flow down from the continental shelf of Antarctica, and then spread into ocean basins around the world.
Changes of this magnitude have already occurred in the past, but certainly not at this rate. In fact, what worries scientists is the speed at which all this is happening. We’re talking about changes that take 1,000 years, but are happening in just a few decades.
How salinity will change: in the first image the situation between 2001 and 2010, in the second the projection for the decade 2021-2030, in the third the forecast for the period 2041-2050. Credits Abyssal ocean overturning slowdown and warming driven by Antarctic meltwater
When fresh water is “released” from Antarctic ice, it slides into the ocean depths thus diluting the salinity of the ocean waterswhich become like this less dense and not “heavy” enough to sink as they have done so far, and “push” the underlying water elsewhere. An important “engine” of the world’s ocean currents would therefore be interrupted, with important consequences not only at a local level.
The study did not go into depth consequences of this dynamic, but the authors said that slowing the current “would profoundly alter the oceanic overturn of heat, fresh water, oxygen, carbon and nutrients, with impacts in all of the globe’s oceans for centuries to come.”
