https://blog.rapusia.org/climate_crisis/43/the-atlantic-ocean-is-changing-says-a-university-college-london-study/

The Atlantic Ocean is changing: Says a University College London study

JULY 11, 2020 09:48

by FEDERICO COPPINI   |  VIEW 734

The planet is now subject to drastic changes, from the emerged lands to the oceans global warming is having a destructive impact that is determining the change of the environments: the Atlantic Ocean has also been a victim of the process.

Global warming is now an unstoppable phenomenon that is leading to a change in the entire planet, even of the oceans. Specifically, the Atlantic according to a recent study by University College London has also started experiencing a change in its ecosystem.

The results were published in the Geophysical Research Letters. In the Atlantic, significant decrease in plankton The drastic change in ocean waters highlights the analyses of coral reefs that become whiter, the acidity levels that increase exponentially due to carbon dioxide and the migrations of some fish that are gradually moving towards the Poles.

Yet never before has there been a reversal of currents from hot to cold. This phenomenon has led to a huge distortion of the ecosystem of the Atlantic Ocean. The disturbing discovery was made by, reports the editorial staff of Green-me, a team of researchers from University College London, according to whom there was a significant decrease in plankton of cold waters.

The study reads that the Atlantic, especially the North-Eastern sector, acts as an important litmus test for identifying changes dictated by the climate system. The change in the circulation of water within it led to a replacement of the cold currents near Iceland with currents of warm water.

This led to a different distribution of plankton. A figure that goes against the trend compared to those up to now in the possession of scholars. Professor Peter Spooner, author of the research, said, according to reports from the Green-me editorial staff, that the climate in the last 12 thousand years has never recorded variations of immense importance.

Never until today. How has the ocean changed? To understand how the ocean really changed, expert teams analysed the various types of plankton by studying fossils, as previously represented. To do this, they chose a portion of the seabed south of Iceland and found sediments transported by currents that move at great depths.

Specifically, a specific species was found to a different extent than the findings of the industrial era. In their view, this had been caused by the change in the circulation of currents. To confirm the consideration, the fact that a reduction in the number of species of plankton typical of cold waters and an increase in those of warm waters has been detected.

What are the consequences of this mutation? The author of the study, Professor Spooner, said on the point that the changes in the ecosystem, which replaced the more nutritious plankton of cold waters with those of warm waters, led to a migration of some species of fish to the north, such as mackerel.

This is a presence in the waters of important gravity from a political point of view, considering that various nations have started to fight for dominance over the fishing areas. In addition to this, the professor also added that hot water also reached the Arctic following the melting of the glaciers.

What is it that determines the phenomenon? What is the cause of the reversal? The lower salinity of the waters in the North Atlantic due to the rainfall brought by climate change, the melting of glaciers and therefore from the water that comes from the Arctic are responsible for this reversal.

According to what the Green-me editorial team reports, Professor Spooner declared that a first sign of the freshwater entrance occurred with the birth of the industrial era in the late 1700s. A circumstance that since then started to cause first changes, in addition to natural and physiological variability.

Although the study has achieved this result, it is not able to provide a certain explanation as to what are the real causes of changes in the flow of currents. At the moment, only one factor seems known: the oceans are suffering because of climate change.

Awareness that until now had been lacking by experts. Furthermore, the last consideration (but not as important) is that the decrease in phytoplankton in the oceans means less production of oxygen in the atmosphere.