Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, doi:10.1029/2010JD015493, 2011
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2010JD015493
Title: Is the recorded increase in short-duration North Atlantic tropical storms spurious?
Authors:
Gabriele Villarini: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA; and Willis Research Network, London, UK;
James A. Smith: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA;
Gabriel A. Vecchi and Thomas R. Knutson: Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.
3. Potential for Atlantic current collapse hinted by complex global circulation model
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is a gigantic heat, salt, and nutrient mixer that spans the length of the Atlantic Ocean. Drawing warming surface waters up from the south through the Gulf Stream and along the North Atlantic Current, the system has a large amount of control over the climate of western Europe. Once in the North Atlantic the water cools, becoming more dense and sinking to between 3,000 and 5,000 meters (between 1.9 and 3.1 miles) in depth before commencing a return journey south. Both paleoclimate evidence and simplified ocean circulation models suggest that the AMOC may have two stable states (either its current behavior or an "off" mode), and this
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