A new research published this month looks at how risks linked to changes of sea currents are on the rise. As it turns out, a weak circulation in the oceans would even increase accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide, thereby increasing global temperatures. Published in Nature Communications, the paper conducted by faculty and students stressed that the weakening of the overturning circulation, which is a significant component of climate, would diminish the capacity of the ocean to absorb carbon dioxide from the air. But it could also imply that the amount of CO2 that is being transported from the lower layers of the oceans is also being reduced hence acting as a balancing factor.
Cannot be ignored
However, the study focuses on how the currents have reached equilibrium and stresses the high risks that exist with shifts in currents. As the circulation decouple from the top and slows down, it may bring up more carbons depth and deposit them at the lower part of the deep ocean. This is rather worrying given that carbon dioxide is recognized as a greenhouse gas that plays a role in heat entrapment in the Earth’s atmosphere. Thus, increased temperature of the earth can trigger the melting of ice shelves formed many thousands of years ago and raise the level of sea, posing a danger to all coastal territories.
The work describes how shifts in currents affect the distribution of both iron and carbon and nutrients, surface microorganisms and ligands, which are molecules that attach to metals and affect how they are used. Slower currents affect the concentration of carbon in this ecosystem hence the rate of carbon which is dissolved in the water and out-gased into the atmosphere is affected. This discovery reverses what has been considered in the past regarding ocean’s capacity in carbon storage emphasizing the significance of the adoption of preventive measures in combating climate change.
It’s never too late to act
The researchers asserted that the existing knowledge of the mechanism of the ocean currents and cycles as well as the possibilities of their influence on climate change is insufficient to create an adequate plan of its combating. They insist on immediacy in reducing emissions as a way of buying time and containing the increasing rate of global warming. This is why, as the ocean’s capacity to regulate climate is under threat, urgent solutions need to be found in order to protect the planet.
