AP: Ocean system that moves heat gets closer to collapse, which could cause weather chaos, study says

[NJCher]

1. glad I checked

was just about to post from another source. Here are a few more paragraphs from yet another story, MSN/CNN:

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The scientists used a supercomputer to run complex climate models over a period of three months, simulating a gradual increase of freshwater to the AMOC — representing ice melt as well as rainfall and river runoff, which can dilute the ocean’s salinity and weaken the currents.

****As they slowly increased the freshwater in the model, they saw the AMOC gradually weaken until it abruptly collapsed. It’s the first time a collapse has been detectable using these complex models, representing “bad news for the climate system and humanity,” the report says.****

What the study doesn’t do, however, is give timeframes for a potential collapse. More research is needed, van Westen told CNN, including models which also mimic climate change impacts, such as increasing levels of planet-heating pollution, which this study did not. “But we can at least say that we are heading in the direction of the tipping point under climate change,” van Westen said.

The impacts of the AMOC’s collapse could be catastrophic. Some parts of Europe might see temperatures plunge by up to 30 degrees Celsius over a century, the study finds, leading to a completely different climate over the course of just a decade or two.

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source CNN