North Atlantic Sea Levels Rise Due to Warming Antarctic Deep Waters

Researchers from NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory and the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science conducted a study that shows how changes in the environment around #Antarctica brought on by human activity are affecting sea level rise in the North Atlantic. 

The deep water limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation appears to have weakened by roughly 12%, according to an analysis of hydrographic data and two decades' worth of mooring studies. Heat, nutrients, and carbon dioxide are all distributed throughout oceans in large part by this circulation system, or AMOC. The Antarctic bottom water is transported northward by the abyssal limb, a weakening deep-ocean branch. #Sea levels increase and the ocean's heat content are impacted by this water, which is a result of the waters surrounding Antarctica cooling and sinking. The study emphasizes how distant oceanic regions are related to one another and how human activity affects ocean circulation worldwide.

The results emphasize the value of #long-term observational programs for understanding and predicting changes in the climate system of Earth.

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Reference: Biló, T.C., Perez, R.C., Dong, S. et al. Weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation abyssal limb in the North Atlantic. Nat. Geosci. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01422-4