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Despite being the planet's strongest ocean current, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), otherwise known as the West Wind Drift, has for many years gone under the radar. The ACC has been in the spotlight more recently, however, since new research has revealed the possibility it may weaken considerably in the coming decades.
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Around Earth’s southernmost and iciest continent, there flows an ocean current called the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC).
Although it receives less press than other ocean currents, such as the Gulf Stream, the ACC is very important for regulating the Earth’s temperature and pumping water, heat, and nutrients around the globe.
Over recent decades, the strength of the ACC has remained relatively stable, despite expectations that warming water around Antarctica would speed it up.
New research shows, however, that the ACC could slow by up to 20% by 2050, due to the impact of global warming.
Given the important role it plays in maintaining the global ecosystem, a weakening of the ACC could have profound consequences for life on Earth.
The ACC is the strongest ocean current on the planet. It is five times stronger than the Gulf Stream, and more than 100 times stronger than the Amazon River.
This ocean current has been known to sailors for decades: forming a sort of moat around Antarctica, its flow facilitates ocean travel from west to east, and makes travel in the opposite direction very challenging.
The ACC plays an important role in protecting Antarctica’s vulnerable ice sheets. By surrounding the continent, it keeps warm water at bay.
It also acts as a barrier to invasive species, such as southern bull kelp. As these species drift towards Antarctica, the ACC helps spread them out.
Although the ACC is the strongest ocean current on the planet, it is not that well understood. This is because its location makes obtaining direct measurements difficult.
Scientists do have data, however, to show that, until now, the strength of the ACC has remained relatively stable.
This is despite expectations that warming water around Antarctica would actually speed up the current.
In theory, it is density changes and winds around Antarctica that dictate the strength of the current, and since warm water is less dense, this should be enough to speed it up.
New research shows, however, that, going forward, climate change may actually have a weakening effect on the ACC.
The new research involved ocean modeling using Australia’s fastest supercomputer and climate simulator in Canberra.
The model was developed by a team of Australian researchers from various universities.
The benefit of this new model is that it captures features that many previous models have missed. In this way, it offers more accurate predictions about how the ACC will change as the world warms.
The model predicts that as the planet continues to warm, the cold, fresh melt water from Antarctica will move northwards.
This freezing cold water will fill the deep ocean as it moves, causing major changes to the density structure of the ocean.
The expectation is that this will counteract the effects of the ocean warming and cause a 20% slowdown of the ACC by 2050.
If the ACC does in fact weaken by this much, it would have far-reaching consequences for both Antarctica and the rest of the planet.
A weakening of the current could mean a reduction of biodiversity, and therefore a softening of the fishing industry that many communities rely on.
A weaker ACC could also encourage the entry of invasive species, which would further disrupt local ecosystems and food webs.
A weaker ACC may also mean that more warm water manages to travel southwards, exacerbating the problem of melting Antarctic ice.
Faster-melting ice may, in turn, lead to a further weakening of the current, causing a sort of vicious circle to form.
And, ultimately, all of this disruption could extend to global climate patterns, which would reduce the ocean’s ability to regulate climate change by absorbing excess heat and carbon that ends up in the atmosphere.
Although the findings of this new study are not promising, all is not lost when it comes to the future of the world’s strongest ocean current.
Indeed, experts believe that a concerted effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could still significantly limit ice melting around Antarctica.
Going forward, long-term studies must be established in the Southern Ocean so that researchers are properly able to track these changes.
With coordinated international action, we may still be able to avert the negative effects of climate change on our planet’s oceans and their currents.
Sources: (BBC) (Techno-Science.net) (Ocean Geographic Society)
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LIFESTYLE Planet
Despite being the planet's strongest ocean current, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), otherwise known as the West Wind Drift, has for many years gone under the radar. The ACC has been in the spotlight more recently, however, since new research has revealed the possibility it may weaken considerably in the coming decades.
Intrigued? Check out this gallery to find out more.