A slowing Atlantic Ocean current is projected to intensify powerful storms in California while reducing snowfall over Greenland, according to a new University of California, Riverside study.
A slowing Atlantic Ocean current is projected to intensify powerful storms in California while reducing snowfall over Greenland, according to a new University of California, Riverside study.
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, works like a giant conveyor belt in the ocean, moving warm water from the tropics northward to heat places like Europe, then cycling the cooled, denser water back south along the ocean floor.
“It is well known that the AMOC is a big player in the world’s climate system, and that it is slowing down. What we didn’t know is exactly how the AMOC might impact atmospheric moisture and storms outside the Atlantic region,” said Mohima Mimi, a UCR doctoral student in climate dynamics and the paper’s lead author.
“It turns out a weakening AMOC will strengthen storms across parts of North America by the end of the century, along the California coast in particular, while reducing them over Greenland and the Arctic.”
Read More: University of California - Riverside
Image: Atmospheric river forming over the Pacific Northwest. (Credit: NASA/NOAA)
