Could the global superstorms of the movie “The Day After Tomorrow” actually be real? Tim Dronfield Marine Bio Hot Topic #1
Could the global superstorms of the movie “The Day After Tomorrow” actually be real?
Everyone has family
traditions. One of my families’ favorite traditions is to watch the movie “the
Day After Tomorrow” the night of the first big snowstorm of winter. It’s a silly
tradition since the movie features ridiculously massive superstorms that freeze
everything and launch the world into a new ice age. But shockingly the main
reason these storms form is not only scientifically accurate but appears to be
happening right now. Now to clarify the storms themselves and what happens is
not accurate so don’t move to Mexico or prepare for the ice age. But the idea
of the ocean currents being disrupted, and the climate being hurled into
drastic changes is surprisingly accurate. Check out the movie trailer with this
link, at the time of this posting it is available on HBO max and Amazon prime,
as well as several pay to view options. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku_IseK3xTc
Before
this can all make sense you first need to understand that there is a system of deep-water
currents that run across the whole world deep under the oceans surface. This current
is referred to as the thermohaline circulation.
These currents draw warm or
cold water across the world and work because of some very interesting
scientific principles. To simplify these principles, the warm water moves to the poles
where it becomes colder and due to freezing and some other factors gains a
higher concentration of salt. This causes the water to sink and then it starts
on the journey again. Continuing on its path around the world.
This
sinking action which most notably happens in the north Atlantic around Europe, is
incredibly important to the workings of this system. Without it the currents wouldn’t
work. Unfortunately, this critical sinking along with the whole current is appearing to slow
down. Since global warming is causing the oceans to heat up the water isn’t getting
cold as fast as it used to. Also, since the ice caps of Greenland are melting,
tons of fresh water is being dumped into the ocean. All this fresh water dilutes
the salt concentration and disrupts the sinking of the cold water. The system
relies on a high salt concentration combined with the cold temperatures to make the water denser, which makes it
sink. If there isn’t enough salt and the water doesn't reach a low enough temperature it stops sinking. This disrupts the current and puts an end to its significant effects.
You may
be asking “so what? Some water isn’t going to be flowing miles under the
surface. How is that my problem?” Well, it will certainly be your problem if you
live in Europe. Most of Europe’s warmth and climate is derived from the warm
water brought up the Atlantic by the thermohaline circulation. If this process
is disrupted, then the rest of Europe will experience the harsh colds that Russia normally faces.
A
huge driver of all the negatives that are destroying the thermohaline circulation
system are all causes or factors of climate change. The best way to prevent
disaster and huge shifts in the global climate is to stop human driven climate
change before it is too late. If CO2 is reduced many of these factors will be
mitigated. The oceans absorb a ton of CO2, and it acts as a heat sink. The CO2
left in the atmosphere is contributing to the rising global temperatures.
Humans are putting out massive amounts of CO2 and it is rapidly accelerating processes
that would naturally take much, much longer. So stopping the release of CO2 will stop the escalation of the problem. The problem of the current high CO2 levels remains but if they continue to rise the problems only get worse.
Unfortunately,
there are no certainties that any remedies will work, but it is certain that
doing nothing will accelerate the problems and reduce the chances of ever
finding a solution. To read more in depth about this topic check out the Inside
Climate News article here.
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