The Gulf Stream is getting weaker and weaker due to climate change.
In Europe, this could increasingly lead to extreme weather conditions such as heat waves and winter storms in the future.
Munich - We are already dealing with changeable weather * in Germany.
While it felt like spring at the end of February, it should be winter again in mid-March.
We should generally gradually get used to unusual weather conditions.
A scientific study from Ireland, Great Britain and Germany now shows that the Gulf Stream has never been as weak in 1,500 years as it has been in previous decades.
That could have devastating consequences for the climate.
According to
wetter.de
, the weakening of electricity in Europe could
increasingly lead to more violent winter storms *, heat waves and a decrease in summer precipitation.
“Because of the weakening Gulf Stream towards the north and the North Atlantic, it is to be feared that the sea surface in the tropical areas will warm up.
And warmer water unfortunately also means more energy, which then leads to increased storm and hurricane activity * ”, says RTL meteorologist Björn Alexander.
Weather: Climate change affects the Gulf Stream for the worse
The Gulf Stream is negatively impacted by climate change because the northern Atlantic is gaining fresh water from more frequent rainfall * and the melting of the Earth's ice sheets.
Because the salinity is lower, the density of the water also decreases.
This then leads to the slowing down of the current.
“The study results suggest that the AMOC flow was relatively stable until the late 19th century.
With the end of the Little Ice Age around 1850, the ocean currents began to weaken, with a second, even more drastic decline following since the middle of the 20th century, ”said researcher Stefan Rahmstorf to
Nature Geoscience
.
Weather: Researcher warns - "could bring us dangerously close to the tipping point"
This deviation from nature also has serious consequences on the other side of the Atlantic.
In Canada, the climate is becoming significantly rougher, and even more snowfall * than is already to be expected in the winter months.
If we continue to push global warming in the future, the Gulf Stream system will weaken further - by 34 to 45 percent by 2100, according to the latest generation of climate models, ”continues Rahmstorf.
"That could bring us dangerously close to the tipping point where the flow becomes unstable."
It is still unclear what effect this could have on humans and the earth.
Current developments show that this is definitely not going to our advantage.
(ta) * merkur.de is an offer from Ippen-Media.