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The weakening of the North Atlantic circulation


IanR

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  • Location: Near King's Lynn 13.68m ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Hoar Frost, Snow, Misty Autumn mornings
  • Location: Near King's Lynn 13.68m ASL

An excellent link which doesn't go off at a tangent and is highly pertinent to the other thread. It suggests that "Atlantic basin-scale SST variability in 2014 was driven primarily by atmospheric forcing. In particular, pronounced atmospheric cooling over much of the subpolar gyre", as I for one suspected.

Indeed, far from reduced MOC, the cooling has led to increased deep water formation.

 

From the report:

 

 

The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation estimated from a now decade-long (2004–March 2014) trans-basin instrument array along 26°N shows a decrease in transport of −4.2 ± 2.5 Sv decade−1 (95% confidence, 1 Sv = 1 × 106 m3 s−1). 

 

This is the RAPID array data and measures both upper layer northward transport and the returning deep water transport. So whatever the cause or causes of the recent NATL anomaly, there is evidence (imo) that a secular change is underway (albeit with only 10 years of data). 

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