The Atlantic Ocean is known to have an extremely high salt content, warm waters, and an diverse category of whales and fish. However, according to recent studies, this ocean as we know it, could face a collapse for it's own current.
Signs for this event
In Central America and Brazil, the temperature of the Atlantic waters have increasingly gotten warmer throughout two decades. In fact, an article from Vox has reported that in 2023 itself, the North Atlantic has reached its highest temperature yet. The effect of this heat has even broken the 1.5 Celsius limit set by the 2015 Paris Agreement, highlighting concern in scientists across the globe.
Causes
The root problem for the near collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current (AMOC) is due to the increased saltiness in ocean waters. The AMOC itself flows from the tropics (South America) and distributes the warm water into the North Atlantic, then returning around Greenland back to the Southern Hemisphere. However as we all know, climate change has caused glaciers to melt, most notably in Greenland. With the melting of ice sheets, the content in the AMOC has increased and due to the Atlantic Ocean also being notoriously known for storing oil and petroleum reservoirs, is causing our ocean's current to slow down. As if these reasons weren't enough, greenhouse gases are being absorbed into our ocean, heating up the waters.
Effects
This overwhelming addition in change towards AMOC is preventing ocean wildlife form adapting easily to their new environment, potentially causing a countless number of specimens such as the North Atlantic right whale to become extinct. Coral reefs will die out more quickly, depleting the ocean of it's nutrients. Fish are becoming smaller due to higher temperatures. The melting glaciers are increasing the salt concentration in AMOC, slowing down the channel through which this current flows.
My Thoughts
Such an integral ocean such as the Atlantic is about to collapse in around two-three decades and there are still people who global warming as a myth or as a trivial concept. The downfall of such a massive body of water will affect all of us, from the food we eat to the temperatures we will experience. Nations across the globe must do everything in their ability to stop this, such as cutting back carbon emissions: although they contribute to the economy, they damage our planet.
