Global warming threatens to affect a crucial current system in the Atlantic Ocean, leading to fundamental changes in the climate of Europe and North America, Western media reported, citing a letter from more than 40 climate scientists to the Nordic Council of Ministers.
“If Britain and Ireland become like northern Norway, the consequences would be enormous. Our research shows that the likelihood of such a scenario is not small. It is not something you can easily adapt to,” said Prof. Peter Ditlevsen from the University of Copenhagen, one of the authors of the letter.
Media outlets specify that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is in question. “Such a change in the circulation of ocean waters would have a devastating and irreversible impact, especially on the Nordic countries, but also on other parts of the world,” the letter noted.
Scientists suggested that the risk of changes in this system of currents is grossly underestimated, and the point of no return could be passed as early as the next decades. The UK Meteorological Service has previously noted that this process will lower temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere, raise the level of the Atlantic Ocean, reduce precipitation over Europe and North America, and affect the rainy season in South America and Africa.
The Nordic Council of Ministers consists of five countries – Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland – as well as Greenland (Denmark), the Faroe Islands (Denmark) and the Åland Islands (Finland).
