Satellites from the European Space Agency have shown that a large reservoir of fresh water has emerged in the Arctic Ocean over the past 15 years. A change in wind direction could spill out into the North Atlantic and cool Europe
The data are striking: since 2002, the sea surface in the study area has risen by about 15 cm, and the volume of fresh water has increased by about 8 thousand km³, that is, this "dome" accounts for about 10% of all fresh water in the Arctic Ocean.
Researchers at the Center for Polar Observation and Modeling at University College London and the National Oceanographic Center (both in the UK) came to their conclusions based on data from the ERS-2 and Envisat satellites on the western Arctic, transmitted from 1995 to 2010. Scientists concluded that the “dome” could have been the result of stronger arctic winds that accelerated a large oceanic circulation known as the Beaufort Gyre, which caused a bulge on the sea surface.
If the wind rose changes, fresh water will spill over the entire Arctic Ocean and even reach the North Atlantic. This could slow down currents off the Gulf Stream and bring coolness to Europe. Recall that it is thanks to the Gulf Stream that the old woman enjoys a more temperate climate compared to other regions located at the same latitude.
“In analyzing the data, we noticed that changes in sea surface height did not always follow the wind,” notes lead author Catherine Giles. - The search for the cause led us to the fact that sea ice forms something like a barrier between the atmosphere and the ocean. As the sea ice sheet changes, so does the impact of wind on the ocean. Our next step is to study in more detail how changes in sea ice cover can affect the relationship between the atmosphere and the ocean.”
Envisat, the largest Earth observation satellite in the history of astronautics, will celebrate ten years in orbit in March. ERS-2 was retired in July 2011, but the data it and its predecessor ERS-1 have collected over twenty years will be used by scientists for a long time.