Around Antarctica, a vast current acts as the world's climate engine. New science is revealing the power it holds over the future, and researchers are alarmed at what they’re learning as ice shelves retreat. nyti.ms/3yqvViO
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current has kept the world from warming even more by drawing deep water from the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans and pulling it to the surface. Scientists call this action upwelling. nyti.ms/3yqvViO
New tools have enabled research that reveals global warming is affecting the Antarctic current in complex ways, and these shifts could complicate the ability to fight climate change in the future. nyti.ms/3yqvViO
The deep ocean water that upwells contains high levels of carbon dioxide, which is released when it reaches the surface. But that’s not the only concern: The water is also relatively warm, which spells trouble in terms of sea-level rise. nyti.ms/3yqvViO
Scientists discovered several decades ago that this upwelling water is melting the ice shelves from underneath. That is causing the ice shelves to thin and retreat, and the land ice behind them to move faster toward the ocean. nyti.ms/3yqvViO
"Antarctica is melting from the bottom," said Henri Drake, an oceanographer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Read more about how new research is illuminating the profound importance of deep, ancient, carbon-laden water to the world's future: nyti.ms/3yqvViO
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