“It’s way faster than we thought these circulations could slow down,” said one researcher. “We are talking about the possible long-term extinction of an iconic water mass.”
By Julia Conley. Published 3-30-2023 by Common Dreams
Rapidly melting ice in Antarctica could cause a drastic weakening of a crucial current deep in the ocean, with “impacts felt throughout the global ocean for centuries to come,” according to a study published on March 29, 2023. (Photo: Ronald Woan/Flickr/cc)
Scientists from the United States and Australia on Wednesday warned in a new study that the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting rapid melting of Antarctic glaciers is placing a vital deep ocean current “on a trajectory that looks headed towards collapse” in the coming decades.
As Common Dreams has reported, Antarctic ice is melting at an unprecedented rate, and the melting is causing fresh water to enter the ocean—reducing the salinity and density which is needed to drive the “overturning circulation” of water deep in the world’s oceans.
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