Europe will turn into Alaska from the year 2060. If the predictions in a new report by scientists of the University of Copenhagen are correct, the warm ocean currents that have given the continent a relatively mild climate will stop working under the influence of greenhouse gas emissions.
The researchers of the Niels Bohr Institute, and the maths department of the university in the Danish capital gave computers the ocean temperature data from the last 150 years. Our current and predicted greenhouse gas emissions have been included in the research.
“The ocean current, known as the Thermohaline Circulation or the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), will collapse – with 95 percent certainty – between 2025 and 2095,” a statement released on 26 July 2023 reads. “This will most likely occur in 34 years, in 2057, and could result in major challenges, particularly warming in the tropics and increased storminess in the North Atlantic region.”
The Danish conclusions have been met by a storm of criticism. Many other scientists say it lacks sufficient data. In Danish media even Peter Ditlevsen, the main researcher of the Niels Bohr Institute, says the proof “is not perfect”. However, if the data proofs right, Europe is closer to the tipping point in its climate crisis than any other international researcher has so far been able to establish. | © 2023 Marcel Burger, nordicreporter.com