Dramatic warning: We're getting closer to the "tipping point", it happens here, now

Dramatic warning: We're getting closer to the "tipping point", it happens here, now

It happened about 12,800 years ago.

Scientists in Denmark claimed this week that we can expect another sharp weakening of ocean currents, or even a cessation, by the end of this century at the latest.

Climatologists generally agree that ocean currents in the Atlantic will weaken this century, but there is no consensus on whether a drastic slowdown with unforeseeable consequences for the climate will occur before 2100, writes the New York Times.

New research, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, warns that there is mounting scientific evidence that the continued release of human-made greenhouse gases could lead to a climate "tipping point," with rapid and irreversible environmental changes.

The co-author of that scientific paper, Dr. Susanne Ditlevsen, Professor of Statistics at the University of Copenhagen, warns that the new knowledge is a sufficient argument that the climate breakdown is no longer considered an abstract, distant threat.

"This is happening here and now," warns the Danish scientist. Scientists study changes in the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the main current in the Atlantic Ocean.

It carries surface warm salty water to the extreme north, where after cooling it retreats to the bottom and flows south. This system of ocean currents transports an important part of the heat energy from the tropical regions to the northern part of the Atlantic, from where the heat leaves the atmosphere. This current transports warm ocean water from the tropics via the Gulf Stream, then passes along the southeast coast of the US before turning towards northern Europe.

When the ocean waters release their heat into the air in the far north, it becomes colder and denser, and sinks into the depths of the ocean returning to the equator. This submergence, or overturning, effect allows ocean currents to transport a huge amount of heat around the planet, which is why they have an extremely large impact on the climate of the Atlantic area and beyond, according to the New York Times.

However, as the atmosphere warms due to human influence, the Greenland ice sheet melts and a large amount of fresh water flows into the North Atlantic, which could upset the balance that maintains this current. The part of the Atlantic south of Greenland has been noticeably colder in recent years, which some scientists see as evidence that the North Atlantic Current (AMOC) is slowing.