Science News by University of Arizona 10/20/2021
Slower ocean circulation
as the result of climate change could intensify extreme cold weather in the U.S., according to new research.
Throughout Earth's oceans runs a conveyor belt of water. Its churning is powered by differences in the water's temperature and saltiness, and weather patterns around the world are regulated by its activity.
"This circulation transports an enormous amount of heat northward in the ocean," Yin said. "The magnitude is on the order of 1 petawatts, or 10 to the 15 power watts. Right now, the energy consumption by the entire world is about 20 terawatts, or 10 to the 12 power watts. So, 1 petawatt is enough to run about 50 civilizations."
Yin said the study was motivated by the extreme cold weather Texas experienced in February.
"In Houston, the daily temperature dropped to 40 degrees Fahrenheit below the normal," Yin said. "That's the typical range of a summer/winter temperature difference. It made Texas feel like the Arctic. This kind of extreme winter weather happened several times in the U.S. during recent years, so the scientific community has been working to understand the mechanism behind these extreme events."
The crisis in Texas caused widespread and catastrophic power outages, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated that socioeconomic damages totaled $20 billion. Yin was curious about the role the ocean played in the extreme weather event.
Yin and Zhao used a state-of-the-art, high-resolution global climate model to measure the influence of the AMOC on U.S. extreme cold weather.
More:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211020140042.htm
