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Slowing of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation at 25° N

Author

Listed:
  • Harry L. Bryden

    (National Oceanography Centre)

  • Hannah R. Longworth

    (National Oceanography Centre)

  • Stuart A. Cunningham

    (National Oceanography Centre)

Abstract

Atlantic Ocean trends The circulation across the 25° N latitude line in the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and the Bahamas has become the benchmark for estimating the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, an important component of global ocean transport that carries warm upper waters into far northern latitudes via the Gulf Stream and returns cold deep waters south across the Equator. Its heat transport contributes to the moderate climate of maritime and continental Europe. A new hydrographic section across 25° N was taken in 2004, and comparison with measurements from 1957, 1981, 1992 and 1998 reveals a slowing of almost a third between 1957 and 2004. This means that more Gulf Stream waters are now recirculating southwards at mid-ocean depths, and that southward transport of cold lower North Atlantic Deep Water has halved. Some climate models suggest that the anthropogenic increase in atmospheric CO2 will result in a slowdown of the Atlantic overturning circulation, so this latest finding will add fuel to the debate on climate change.

Suggested Citation

  • Harry L. Bryden & Hannah R. Longworth & Stuart A. Cunningham, 2005. "Slowing of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation at 25° N," Nature, Nature, vol. 438(7068), pages 655-657, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:438:y:2005:i:7068:d:10.1038_nature04385
    DOI: 10.1038/nature04385
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    Cited by:

    1. Chenyu Zhu & Zhengyu Liu & Shaoqing Zhang & Lixin Wu, 2023. "Likely accelerated weakening of Atlantic overturning circulation emerges in optimal salinity fingerprint," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Jennifer S. Walker & Robert E. Kopp & Christopher M. Little & Benjamin P. Horton, 2022. "Timing of emergence of modern rates of sea-level rise by 1863," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    3. Fukai Liu & Xun Li & Yiyong Luo & Wenju Cai & Jian Lu & Xiao-Tong Zheng & Sarah M. Kang & Hai Wang & Lei Zhou, 2024. "Increased Asian aerosols drive a slowdown of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Younes Mohammadi & Aleksey Palstev & Boštjan Polajžer & Seyed Mahdi Miraftabzadeh & Davood Khodadad, 2023. "Investigating Winter Temperatures in Sweden and Norway: Potential Relationships with Climatic Indices and Effects on Electrical Power and Energy Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-34, July.

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