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A 'cold blob' in the Atlantic could be a sign of AMOC shutdown – CNN (www.cnn.com)
submitted 4 months ago by [B] to c/hackernews@lemmy.bestiver.se
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[–] 9 points 4 months ago* (4 children)

That “mysterious” cold blob isn’t that mysterious, it’s just (a lot of) meltwater from the Greenland icesheet. Climate change, ya know. Not great for icesheets.

And by extension, also not great for Atlantic current systems. If anyone wants to find out what it could mean for them: https://amocscenarios.org/

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  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    It's also difficult to say what is or isn't normal for AMOC as there's limited and patchy information on how exactly it behaves

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  • [–] 6 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    That’s not entirely true. Yes a lot more research needs to be done. But intensive research is already ongoing and some vital information is known.

    For example, the scenarios I linked are based on this research.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (1 child)

    Yeah, I agree that there's definitely more research to be done and I didn't mean to contradict what the linked research suggests - a collapse of AMOC would result in catastrophic climate change for NW Europe.

    All I meant to point out is that inferred AMOC data only stretches back around 45 years, with direct measurements of AMOC only going back around 35 years. Compared to meteorological records which, in some cases, stretch all the way back to the 1850s, around 40 years of data on such a specific phenomenon is not much to make hard conclusions from.

    While on the one hand it makes the situation even more dangerous, as we're essentially flying blind, on the other it also means we only have a relatively small dataset on what constitutes "normal" AMOC variations.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago

    That’s all true, indeed. However there’s also some ancient data sources, like ice cores, from which the AMOC can be partially reconstructed much deeper in the past. That information does offer a glimpse on what the world looked like when there wasn’t an AMOC.

    You’re right that the full picture is still patchy and there’s much yet to learn.

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