Blinded by the light
December 12, 2019
07.12.2019 – An open circle (St Nicholas Beach Clean Up)
December 16, 2019
The Gulf Stream, which forms out of the Florida Stream and the Antilles Stream, is part of a circulating ocean system. He is a global conveyor belt, heat regulator and food source.
The Gulf Stream, a combination of nursery and dining room also provides an important shelter and has a major impact on the ecology of the Atlantic. Drifting plankton travels through the blue element and serves as a food source for numerous smaller marine creatures, which in turn are consumed by their larger predators. So the Gulf Stream is an indispensable guarantor of the food chain.
A perfectly composed mixture of density differences in water, differences in water temperature, and salt content in the sea create a strong current that makes an extremely important contribution to global thermohaline circulation. But this gigantic, vitally important circulating pump is in danger!
Global warming is causing shrinkage of the Antarctic and Greenland’s ice shields, and a melt of global glaciers. This mixing of the fresh water held in the ice results in a decrease of the salt content in the seawater. And that changes the whole system. With the reduction of salinity in the ocean, the density of the water lowers and thus the flow velocity of the Gulf Stream slows down. The relatively high salt content also has the advantage that important deep currents can survive to obtain the global conveyor belt. According to a study by Stefan Rahmstorf, the flow velocity slowed by 15% between the middle of the 20th century and 2018.
Our European climate engine is slowing down, getting weaker. The first effects of this weakened force of the Gulf Stream will be increased heat waves in summer and frequent storms in winter. Our climate is becoming more turbulent, more violent and much more unpredictable! Especially in Europe, where the Gulf Stream has given us quite moderate weather so far, we will suffer the consequences.
But globally, too, both the air and water temperature will increase. Warm water masses will provide the melt of the poles, which is our shield against the strong sunlight. No good prospects! That is precisely why it is so enormously important to make its contribution to the protection of our climate.
Climate protection concerns us all!
By Fatima Kutzschbach
