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from the don't-care-I-live-in-amundsen-scott-base dept.
The research co-led by Drs. Christelle Not and Benoit Thibodeau from the Department of Earth Sciences and the Swire Institute of Marine Science, The University of Hong Kong, highlights a dramatic weakening of the circulation during the 20th century that is interpreted to be a direct consequence of global warming and associated melt of the Greenland Ice-Sheet. This is important for near-future climate as slower circulation in the North Atlantic can yield profound change on both the North American and European climate but also on the African and Asian summer monsoon rainfall. The findings were recently published in the prestigious journal Geophysical Research Letters.
[...] Interestingly, the research team also found a weak signal during a period called the Little Ice Age (a cold spell observed between about 1600 and 1850 AD). While not as pronounced as the 20th century trend, the signal might confirm that this period was also characterized by a weaker circulation in the North Atlantic, which implies a decrease in the transfer of heat toward Europe, contributing to the cold temperature of this period. However, more work is needed to validate this hypothesis.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-11/tuoh-oci112318.php
(Score: 3, Informative) by fritsd on Sunday December 02 2018, @06:14PM
I don't know, if there is equal warming on the equator and on the pole then there is no change of the temperature *differential*, which is one factor taht "pumps" the atlantic around the Sargasso Sea [wikipedia.org].
But I've seen on heat maps that the temperatures on northern latitudes are going up much faster than anywhere else [wikipedia.org], so that would reduce the difference in temperature between equator and pole and would weaken the North Atlantic Current part of the Gulf Stream [wikipedia.org].