Neko Harbor, Antarctique. Photo source: ©© Benjamin Dumas
Excerpts;
Far beneath the surface of the ocean, deep currents act as conveyer belts, channeling heat, carbon, oxygen and nutrients around the globe. A new study has found that recent climate change may be acting to slow down one of these conveyer belts, with potentially serious consequences for the future of the planet’s climate.
Oceanographers have noticed that Antarctic Bottom Waters, a massive current of cold, salty and dense water that flows 2,000 meters under the ocean’s surface from near the Antarctic coast toward the equator has been shrinking in recent decades. This is cause for concern, as the current is believed to “hide” heat and carbon from the atmosphere. The Southern Ocean takes up approximately 60 percent of the anthropogenic heat produced on Earth and 40 to 50 percent of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide.
“The Southern Ocean is emerging as being very, very important for regulating climate,” Marinov said…
