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Benjamin Shaw. www.rsmas.miami.edu/personal/bshaw. Global Thermohaline Circulation. http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk/rapid/rapid.php. Studies link AMOC variability to abrupt climate change Anthropogenic forcing could cause the AMOC to shut down, causing global cooling.
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Benjamin Shaw www.rsmas.miami.edu/personal/bshaw
Global Thermohaline Circulation http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk/rapid/rapid.php
Studies link AMOC variability to abrupt climate change • Anthropogenic forcing could cause the AMOC to shut down, causing global cooling. • We don't know much about AMOC • What's its current state? • On what time scales does the AMOC vary? • What causes these variations? • What impacts can we expect from AMOC variability? • Can we predict them? • Solution: design & install a monitoring system Why do we study the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation?
RAPID-MOCHA Array April 2008 RAPID-MOCHA Cruise Prospectus www.charts.noaa.gov Johns et al. (2008)
Mooring Array – 1st Year Results Cunningham et al. (2007)
Mooring Array – 4 year timeseries Johns et al. (submitted)
Northward Transport: Model vs. Observations Johns et al. (2008) 0.1-degree POP Model Output
Lower Ocean Currents Western Boundary Wedge Cross Section