Increased flow of water into the Atlantic may exacerbate the greenhouse effect

Melting ice in Greenland could disrupt circuit currents in the North Atlantic Ocean and reduce the ability to smooth out the greenhouse effect by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to a study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Scientists from the University of Bristol (UK) and the Woods Hole Institute of Oceanography (USA) have created a mathematical model that shows what amount of fresh water comes from the glaciers of Greenland in the Arctic Ocean from 1958 to 2010. It was found that from the beginning of the 1990's stock increased. This is most evident in the south-eastern part of the island, where the glaciers over the past 20 years have been given to 50% of the fresh water.
According to the authors, the arrival of such volumes of fresh water into the North Atlantic currents threatened violation of the scheme. It not only can change the weather formation in the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere - Northern Europe, Canada, Greenland - but also to deprive the Atlantic ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
"If you slow down the flow of the North Atlantic circulation, fresh water, which is now supported on the surface as a" screen "to dip into the deeper layers, and then the complex physical and chemical process of carbon sequestration is violated," - said an employee of the Institute of Oceanography Woods Hole Ruth Curry (Ruth Curry) whose words are quoted by the British magazine New Scientist.
The world's oceans are constantly absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, offsetting the increase in emissions and smooth development of the greenhouse effect. This natural mechanism operates successfully, as scientists assume, as long as the circuit currents and the amount of CO2 does not exceed certain thresholds, which are still to be determined. According to experts, the oceans in temperate and polar climates are particularly important in this process.
As previously reported, during the period between April 2002 and February 2009 the Greenland glacier ocean gave about 1.6 thousand cubic kilometers of fresh water.
Ice sheet currently covers about 80% of the Greenland and contains about one-fifth of the world's supply of ice. According to scientists, if it melted completely, it will lead to a rise in sea level of 6.4 meters.