Atlantic meridional overturning circulation increases flood risk along the United States southeast coast
Abstract The system of oceanic flows constituting the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) moves heat and other properties to the subpolar North Atlantic, controlling regional climate, weather, sea levels, and ecosystems. Climate models suggest a potential AMOC slowdown towards the end...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:af2e3575ca194e24aad64c87e2c78e4a 2023-10-01T03:57:52+02:00 Atlantic meridional overturning circulation increases flood risk along the United States southeast coast Denis L. Volkov Kate Zhang William E. Johns Joshua K. Willis Will Hobbs Marlos Goes Hong Zhang Dimitris Menemenlis 2023-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40848-z https://doaj.org/article/af2e3575ca194e24aad64c87e2c78e4a EN eng Nature Portfolio https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40848-z https://doaj.org/toc/2041-1723 doi:10.1038/s41467-023-40848-z 2041-1723 https://doaj.org/article/af2e3575ca194e24aad64c87e2c78e4a Nature Communications, Vol 14, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2023) Science Q article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40848-z 2023-09-03T00:54:44Z Abstract The system of oceanic flows constituting the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) moves heat and other properties to the subpolar North Atlantic, controlling regional climate, weather, sea levels, and ecosystems. Climate models suggest a potential AMOC slowdown towards the end of this century due to anthropogenic forcing, accelerating coastal sea level rise along the western boundary and dramatically increasing flood risk. While direct observations of the AMOC are still too short to infer long-term trends, we show here that the AMOC-induced changes in gyre-scale heat content, superimposed on the global mean sea level rise, are already influencing the frequency of floods along the United States southeastern seaboard. We find that ocean heat convergence, being the primary driver for interannual sea level changes in the subtropical North Atlantic, has led to an exceptional gyre-scale warming and associated dynamic sea level rise since 2010, accounting for 30-50% of flood days in 2015-2020. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Nature Communications 14 1 |
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Science Q Denis L. Volkov Kate Zhang William E. Johns Joshua K. Willis Will Hobbs Marlos Goes Hong Zhang Dimitris Menemenlis Atlantic meridional overturning circulation increases flood risk along the United States southeast coast |
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Science Q |
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Abstract The system of oceanic flows constituting the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) moves heat and other properties to the subpolar North Atlantic, controlling regional climate, weather, sea levels, and ecosystems. Climate models suggest a potential AMOC slowdown towards the end of this century due to anthropogenic forcing, accelerating coastal sea level rise along the western boundary and dramatically increasing flood risk. While direct observations of the AMOC are still too short to infer long-term trends, we show here that the AMOC-induced changes in gyre-scale heat content, superimposed on the global mean sea level rise, are already influencing the frequency of floods along the United States southeastern seaboard. We find that ocean heat convergence, being the primary driver for interannual sea level changes in the subtropical North Atlantic, has led to an exceptional gyre-scale warming and associated dynamic sea level rise since 2010, accounting for 30-50% of flood days in 2015-2020. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Denis L. Volkov Kate Zhang William E. Johns Joshua K. Willis Will Hobbs Marlos Goes Hong Zhang Dimitris Menemenlis |
author_facet |
Denis L. Volkov Kate Zhang William E. Johns Joshua K. Willis Will Hobbs Marlos Goes Hong Zhang Dimitris Menemenlis |
author_sort |
Denis L. Volkov |
title |
Atlantic meridional overturning circulation increases flood risk along the United States southeast coast |
title_short |
Atlantic meridional overturning circulation increases flood risk along the United States southeast coast |
title_full |
Atlantic meridional overturning circulation increases flood risk along the United States southeast coast |
title_fullStr |
Atlantic meridional overturning circulation increases flood risk along the United States southeast coast |
title_full_unstemmed |
Atlantic meridional overturning circulation increases flood risk along the United States southeast coast |
title_sort |
atlantic meridional overturning circulation increases flood risk along the united states southeast coast |
publisher |
Nature Portfolio |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40848-z https://doaj.org/article/af2e3575ca194e24aad64c87e2c78e4a |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Nature Communications, Vol 14, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40848-z https://doaj.org/toc/2041-1723 doi:10.1038/s41467-023-40848-z 2041-1723 https://doaj.org/article/af2e3575ca194e24aad64c87e2c78e4a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40848-z |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
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14 |
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1 |
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1778530009017745408 |