2023-10-18 06:00:07
The Gulf Stream, the ocean current that warms Europe, is weakening. A recent study confirms this, highlighting the potential implications for the global climate.
Photo: NOAA
The current, which begins near Florida, heads towards the east coast of the United States and Canada before crossing the Atlantic towards Europe. It plays a key role in maintaining temperate conditions and regulating (The term regulation refers in its concrete sense to a technical discipline, which…) from sea level (The term sea covers several realities.). However, for four decades, the flow rate of this hot current has decreased by 4%. The researchers, led by Christopher Piecuch of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, analyzed data over 40 years. They noticed a drop in current with only a 1% chance that it was a random fluctuation.
The Gulf Stream is part of the global thermohaline circulation. This oceanic “conveyor belt” moves oxygen, nutrients, carbon, etc. .) and heat (In common parlance, the words heat and temperature often have an equivalent meaning:…) through the planet (A planet is a celestial body orbiting around the Sun or another star of… ). It also helps control sea levels and hurricane activity.
The weakening of the Gulf Stream could be linked to the melting of ice caps. This fresh, cold water disrupts the current and could even, according to scientists, cause it to collapse. However, because of the complexity of the system, it is difficult to provide definitive proof.
For now, researchers continue to study the impact of climate change on the Gulf Stream. Disentangling natural variations in ocean systems from the impact of global warming remains a challenge.
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