Study reveals deep ocean currents around Antarctica heading for collapse-Xinhua

Study reveals deep ocean currents around Antarctica heading for collapse

Source: Xinhua| 2023-03-30 22:26:17|Editor: huaxia

SYDNEY, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Melting ice around Antarctica could lead to a rapid slowdown of the deep ocean circulation by 2050, causing significant impacts on both climate and marine ecosystems, according to a new study.

Published in Nature on Wednesday, the study modeled the amount of Antarctic deep water produced until 2050 under a "high emission scenario" defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and examined how predictions for meltwater from ice might influence the circulation.

"Our modeling shows that if global carbon emissions continue at the current rate, then the Antarctic overturning will slow by more than 40 percent in the next 30 years - and on a trajectory that looks headed towards collapse," said Matthew England, co-author of the study and professor at the University of New South Wales.

"This would trap nutrients in the deep ocean, reducing the nutrients available to support marine life near the ocean surface," England noted.

Each year, about 250 trillion tons of cold, salty, oxygen-rich water sinks near Antarctica. This water then spreads northwards and carries oxygen into the deep Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

"We are talking about the possible long-term extinction of an iconic water mass," said England.

The scientist warned that such profound changes to the ocean's overturning of heat, freshwater, oxygen, carbon and nutrients will have a significant adverse impact on the oceans for centuries to come.

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