Shutdown of Atlantic overturning circulation could cause persistent increase of primary production in the Pacific
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15544254 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ralf Liebermann (0000-0001-5730-0408, Leibniz Association, corresponding author), Matthias Hofmann (0000-0001-7259-8396, Leibniz Association), Georg Feulner (0000-0001-9215-5517, Leibniz Association) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 024005-024005 |
| Publication date | 2023-12-20 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/ad178b |
| OpenAlex | W4389985674 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 37 |
A potential shutdown of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is commonly recognized to have a significant impact on the Northern hemispheric climate, notably in Northern Europe. The collapse of the northbound heat transport by the AMOC is supposed to cool down surface air temperatures at the Scandinavian coast by up to 6 K accompanied by a concomitant nutrient starvation of phytoplankton in Subarctic and Arctic regions. However, besides local and regional impacts, tipping the AMOC into a weaker state by anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and associated freshwater forcing could also have surprising remote effects. In order to investigate possible long-term impacts of an AMOC shutdown on ocean biogeochemistry, we employ an Earth system model of intermediate complexity using idealized scenarios of century-scale atmospheric 2×CO 2 and 4×CO 2 pulses combined with North Atlantic freshwater forcing. The results show a continued increase in primary production, in particular in the Eastern equatorial Pacific, due to a decrease in iron limitation following the AMOC shutdown. Tracer simulations indicate that bioavailable dissolved iron brought by Aeolian dust into the subtropical gyres of the Atlantic Ocean is transported to the Southern Ocean and from there enters the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. Thereby, the additionally introduced iron fertilizes the phosphate-rich high-nutrient, low chlorophyll waters, giving a lasting boost to phytoplankton growth, especially in the Eastern equatorial Pacific
Circulation (fluid dynamics · Climatology · Economics · North Atlantic Deep Water · Nuclear engineering · Production (economics · Shutdown · Shutdown of thermohaline circulation · Thermohaline circulation · Engineering · Environmental Science · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Marine and coastal ecosystems · Marine and environmental studies · Geology · Oceanography
Tipping elements in the Earth's climate system
Emulating coupled atmosphere-ocean and carbon cycle models with a simpler model, Magicc6 – Part 1
Primary Production of the Biosphere
Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene
Hysteresis of the Earth system under positive and negative CO 2 emissions
Reversibility in an Earth System model in response to CO 2 concentration changes
| Highly cited | No |
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