[ image from JAXA ] |
[ click on images to enlarge ] |
Plenty of meltwater has run off from Greenland in 2016, as illustrated by the NSIDC.gov image on the right. The run-off from Alaska and Siberia into the Pacific seems less by comparison than the run-off into the North Atlantic. So, how could it be that the cold area in the North Pacific has grown larger than the cold area in the North Atlantic?
The image below gives another comparison, between June 1, 2015 (top), and June 1, 2016 (bottom), showing anomalies from 1961-1990.
The difference is striking, especially when considering the strength of the colder anomalies (from 1961-1990). Besides meltwater, something else must be influencing the size and strength of these anomalies in the North Atlantic and the North Pacific in different ways. Quite likely, the difference is caused by the Global Ocean Conveyor Belt (or thermohaline circulation), which is carrying warm water into the North Atlantic, while carrying cold water out of the North Atlantic. In the North Pacific, it is doing the opposite, i.e. carrying cold water in, while carrying warm water out of the North Pacific.
[ Note that this animation is a 2.3 MB file that make take some time to fully load ] |
If such trends continue or even strengthen, ever warmer water will be carried from the North Atlantic into the Arctic Ocean. Since the Atlantic inflow is about 10 times greater in volume than the Pacific inflow, this will further speed up warming of the Arctic Ocean.
A warmer Arctic Ocean will speed up decline of the sea ice, causing more sunlight to be absorbed by the Arctic Ocean, as one of the feedbacks that are further accelerating warming of the Arctic Ocean. The danger is that heat will reach the seafloor and will destabilize methane hydrates contained in sediments at the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean.
The situation is dire and calls for comprehensive and effective action as described at the Climate Plan.
Links
- NASA Study Finds Atlantic 'Conveyor Belt' Not Slowing (March 25, 2010)
http://ift.tt/K3c3ZP
- Arctic Ocean Circulation: Going Around At the Top Of the World, by Rebecca Woodgate (2013) http://ift.tt/I7PO3U
- Feedbacks
http://ift.tt/1JO7GM6
- Climate Plan
http://ift.tt/1XoCgDS
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