Iceland Met Office chief warns of Atlantic circulation risks

The head of Iceland’s Met Office has warned that disruption to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation could have serious consequences for weather worldwide, mbl.is reports, although uncertainty remains over how it may develop.

Hildigunnur Thorsteinsson will take part in a session on the circulation, known as AMOC, at the Arctic Circle conference in Harpa on Friday. The AMOC is a system of ocean currents that helps shape the climate in the Northern Hemisphere; the Gulf Stream is part of it.

Thorsteinsson said it was clear to scientists how to issue yellow or red weather warnings, but it was more difficult to explain climate warnings involving uncertainty on this scale in a way that the public and decision-makers could understand and act on.

“We have taken [the Earth’s] balance out of equilibrium by releasing greenhouse gases in large quantities and on a scale never seen before,” she said. “This is what will disrupt all our lives, and this is what we need to reverse.”

She said the ocean circulation had been affected by melting ice, ocean acidification, warming and changes in precipitation. Disruption could alter weather in the Northern Hemisphere and elsewhere, with drastic consequences. Scientists remain uncertain about whether, when or how this could happen.

Thorsteinsson called for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and continued public discussion of climate issues. She also encouraged people to consider their diets, while cautioning that a vegan diet was not necessarily the answer.