Posts in AMOC
Meta & Fysikken: Afsnit 124: El Nino, Heat Domes & iskapper

Vi dykker lidt ned i jordens varmestrømme. Hvad er det der sker lige denne sommer?

Her er Karina’s noter til dagens afsnit.

1) Heat Dome, eller hvad DMI kalder det - Omega-Blokering

2) Hvad er El Niño

3) Hvad er El Niña

4) Hvordan er 2026 El Niño anderledes?

5) Is-kappe re-generering

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1) Heat Dome, eller hvad DMI kalder det - Omega-Blokering

Omegablokering lagde låg på vejret og løftede Danmark til 37 grader

En fastlåst bølge i atmosfæren sendte varm luft fra Nordafrika mod Danmark og var med til at udløse sidste uges hedebølge. Klimaforandringer skaber ikke omegablokeringen, men gør den varme, som følger med, mere intens. En ny blokering er ved at sætte sig fast.

https://www.dmi.dk/nyheder/2026/omegablokering-lagde-laag-paa-vejret-og-loeftede-danmark-til-37-grader

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2) Hvad er El Niño:

El Niño is a naturally occurring climate pattern characterized by the unusual warming of surface waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. It represents the "warm phase" of a larger, global ocean-atmosphere cycle called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

Under normal conditions, equatorial trade winds blow steadily from east to west (from South America toward Asia), pushing warm surface water into the western Pacific. During an El Niño event, these trade winds weaken or completely reverse. This allows the massive pool of warm water to slosh backward across the ocean toward the Americas.

By shifting where vast amounts of ocean heat are released into the atmosphere, El Niño disrupts weather patterns worldwide:

  1. The Americas: Warmer coastal waters suppress the normal upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich deep sea water, severely disrupting local marine ecosystems and fishing industries. The shifting Pacific jet stream brings heavy rainfall, storms, and increased flood risks to the southern United States and western South America.

  2. Asia and Australia: Because the warm pool of water moves away from the western Pacific, places like Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and Australia experience decreased rainfall, resulting in severe droughts and heightened wildfire risks.

  3. Global Temperatures: El Niño acts as a temporary booster for global heat, often pushing global average temperatures to record-breaking levels.

  • Imagine a giant, shallow bathtub. Normally, the wind blows hard across the tub, pushing all the warm surface water to one side (Asia) while cold water wells up at the back (South America). During El Niño, the wind suddenly stops blowing. That massive wall of hot water sloshes straight back across the tub toward the Americas.

  • Right now, in July 2026, the Pacific Ocean is sloshing backwards, and it's unleashing an unbelievable amount of heat into our global weather system.

  • Frequency: Occurs irregularly every two to seven years.

  • Duration: Typically lasts 9 to 12 months, usually developing in the northern hemisphere's spring/summer, peaking around December (hence its Spanish name, "the Christ Child" or "little boy"), and fading by the following spring

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3) Hvad er El Niña

Opposite Phase: Its cool-phase counterpart is La Niña, which features unusually cold ocean temperatures in the exact same region of the Pacific.

If El Niño is the "slosh" where warm water rushes eastward, La Niña is the "super-charge" of normal conditions. During a La Niña event, the easterly trade winds blow much stronger than usual. This acts like a giant broom, aggressively sweeping warm surface water westward toward Asia and Australia. As that warm water is pushed away, deep, icy-cold, and nutrient-rich water is pulled up to the ocean surface off the coast of South America—a process known as intense upwelling.

How La Niña Flips Global Weather

Because the vast pool of ocean heat is pinned far over in the western Pacific, the global jet stream shifts dramatically:

  • The United States and Canada: The polar jet stream moves farther north. This pushes freezing, moisture-heavy arctic air directly into western Canada and the northern U.S., creating severe, snow-heavy winters. Conversely, the southern U.S. gets left high and dry, suffering through warmer, severe drought conditions. [12345]

  • Australia and Southeast Asia: With an overwhelming amount of hot water packed right against their coastlines, the atmosphere goes into hyperdrive. This brings heavy rainfall, intense monsoons, and devastating flood risks to eastern Australia, Indonesia, and India. [12345]

  • The Hurricane Engine: Unlike El Niño, which tears Atlantic storms apart with high-altitude winds, La Niña reduces wind shear. This acts like premium fuel for tropical systems, typically triggering intense, highly destructive Atlantic hurricane seasons

  • Duration: La Niña events are notoriously stubborn. While El Niño usually fades in under a year, La Niña can easily persist for two or three consecutive years (often referred to as a "triple-dip")

  • The Current 2026 Situation: The planet just finished a multi-year weak La Niña cycle that officially faded away in early 2026. The Pacific has completely flipped, and we are currently in an active, rapidly intensifying El Niño phase moving through the summer of 2026.

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4) Hvordan er 2026 El Niño anderledes?

El Niño and La Niña have existed for thousands—and likely millions—of years, long before human-induced climate change began. They are foundational, ancient components of Earth's natural climate system.

Paleoclimate researchers have found chemical signatures of alternating warm and cold Pacific cycles in ancient coral samples, lake sediments, and ice cores dating all the way back to the last Ice Age and beyond. There is even evidence of active ENSO cycles during the Early Eocene period roughly 50 million years ago, a prehistoric era when the Earth was naturally up to 15°C warmer than it is today.

Climate change did not create these phases; climate change is supercharging them. This breakdown outlines how they behaved in the past versus how they are behaving now.

While the engine behind El Niño and La Niña is entirely natural, human-driven global warming has fundamentally changed the environment in which these cycles operate.

  • 25% Stronger Swings: A landmark study published in Geophysical Research Letters noted that industrial-age ENSO fluctuations are roughly 25% more intense than pre-industrial baselines. The peaks are hotter, and the dry spells are drier.

  • The "Super" El Niño Phenomenon: Truly catastrophic, extreme El Niño events used to be incredibly rare historical anomalies. However, in our modern era, we are seeing "Super El Niños" strike with far greater frequency (such as the massive 1982–83, 1997–98, and 2015–16 cycles).

  • Multi-Year Stubbornness: La Niña has also shown a modern tendency to get "stuck." We have recently witnessed prolonged "triple-dip" La Niñas (like the event stretching from 2020 to 2023) that refuse to break, causing relentless multi-year droughts in some areas and endless flooding in others.

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/05/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-el-ninos-likely-comeback/

Du skal åbne dette link (gode grafer): 

https://climate.copernicus.eu/surging-tropical-pacific-ocean-surface-temperatures-and-early-european-heatwave-may

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5) Is-kappe re-generering

https://aria.org.uk/exploring-climate-cooling-rethickening-arctic-sea-ice

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Meta & Fysikken: Afsnit 122: AMOC og Antartika

Idag gen-besøger vi et emne vi i sin tid havde Jesper Theilgaard inde og tale om. Verdenshavene og strømmene. Der sker lidt!

Her er Karina’s noter.

AMOC:

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a major system of ocean currents, including the Gulf Stream, that transports warm water to the North Atlantic and colder water south. It acts as a vital heat conveyor, ensuring mild temperatures in Europe. Due to climate change—specifically freshwater influx from melting glaciers—the AMOC is weakening, threatening a potential collapse that could drastically alter global weather patterns.

  1. Function: It acts like a conveyor belt, transporting warm, salty water from the tropics to the North Atlantic and cold, deep water back south.

  2. Significance: It keeps Europe warmer than other regions at similar latitudes and influences global climate patterns, including the monsoon in Asia.

  3. Weakening Trend: Studies suggest the AMOC is at its weakest in over 1,000 years.

  4. Risks: A collapse could cause severe consequences, including much colder European winters, accelerated sea-level rise, and shifts in tropical rainfall.

  5. Potential Collapse: Research indicates the system is approaching a critical tipping point, with some studies suggesting a potential collapse this century.

AMOC collapse could turn Southern Ocean into carbon source, adding 0.2°C to global warming — Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

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Klimaforsker: 5 ting, jeg ville ønske, alle vidste om AMOC-havstrømme:

  1. Den globale opvarmning gør havvandet lettere, og øget tilførsel af ferskvand fra blandt andet Grønland reducerer saltholdigheden. 

  2. Det betyder, at mindre af det tungere kolde vand i Nordatlanten synker mod bunden og dermed giver plads til lunere vand i overfladen. 

  3. Det bremser cirkulationen af det varme og kolde vand og svækker det samlede system.

For 12800 år siden - den yngre Dryas periode -  dengang Istidens store iskapper var på retræte, mener man at der var en svækkelse af AMOC pga store intense tilførsler af ferskvand fra smeltende iskapper i Nordamerika til Nordatlanten. 

Under Yngre Dryas opstod en næsten istidslignende periode i Nord- og Vesteuropa, hvor temperaturerne faldt voldsomt inden for få årtier og forblev lave i 1.000 år.
Gletsjere rykkede frem igen, og vegetationen ændrede sig hurtigt i retning af mere kuldetolerante arter. 

Dette kan muligvis været triggeret af et vulkanudbrud: Undervurderet joker kan før have udløst voldsomme klimaforandringer

Vulkanudbrud puffede dengang til et klimasystem, der i forvejen var ude af balance. Ubalancen skyldtes blandt andet, at enorme mængder fersk smeltevand fossede ud i det nordatlantiske hav fra de flere kilometer tykke iskapper, der dækkede store dele af den nordlige halvkugle. 
Ferskvandet forstyrrede havets saltbalance og dermed de vigtige nordatlantiske strømme, der fordeler varme fra Jordens sydlige halvkugle til den nordlige.
»I istiden var klimaet tæt på et 'tipping point'. Når noget er lige ved at vælte, skal der ikke meget til at skubbe det ud over kanten,« siger en anden af forskerne bag studiet, Peter Ditlevsen, der er professor i klimamodellering på Niels Bohr Institutet i København. 

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2026/04/23/studies-warn-amoc-ocean-current-in-trouble/89720003007/

Udsigterne:

AMOC kollaps allerede 2065. Man ved ikke om det er en langsom svækkelse eller et pludseligt skift. 

Det er IKKE en kommende istid. Det er ændringer i havcirkulationen, som kan gøre vores klima køligere og mere ustabilt.

CO2 niveauer som for 2-3 millioner år siden.

Regional temperature changes would be even more pronounced than global mean temperature change. In one scenario at CO₂ concentrations of 450ppm – last experienced by the Earth several million years ago, when polar ice was significantly reduced – Antarctic temperatures rise by 6°C while Arctic temperatures drop by 7°C due to AMOC collapse.(fra PIK)

Et kollaps af AMOC can frigive CO2 i de sydlige have, hvilket vil tilføre yderligere 0.2°C til global opvarming.

Antartika

https://www.asoc.org/learn/antarctic-ice-and-rising-sea-levels/

Forskere har kortlagt, hvor Antarktis' afsmeltning vil få de største konsekvenser

Højere saltindhold:

Rising surface salinity and declining sea ice: A new Southern Ocean state revealed by satellites

Rising surface salinity and declining sea ice: A new Southern Ocean state revealed by satellites | PNAS

Antarctica has lost a Greenland’s worth of sea ice (på 10 år) – and the effects are troubling.
A dramatic transformation is unfolding in the waters around Antarctica. Since 2015, the continent has lost as much sea ice as the entire size of Greenland, but that’s not even the scariest part. 
Scientists have discovered that the Southern Ocean, which once freshened and helped preserve the ice, is now becoming saltier. This saltier surface allows deep ocean heat to rise, melting the ice from below. It’s a reversal of decades-long trends – and it’s doing damage fast.
One striking consequence: the return of the Maud Rise polynya, a massive hole in the sea ice nearly four times the size of Wales, unseen since the 1970s. It’s a symptom of a dangerous feedback loop – less ice leads to more ocean heat, which leads to even less ice – potentially destabilizing one of Earth’s key climate regulators.
And the impacts extend far beyond the poles. Sea ice acts as a mirror, reflecting sunlight. Without it, oceans absorb more heat, amplifying global warming, fueling more extreme storms, and collapsing ecosystems that depend on stable ice – from penguins to krill and beyond.
Now, with real-time satellite and robotic monitoring in place, scientists warn we may be witnessing a fundamental shift in the planet’s climate engine – one that’s unfolding faster than expected, and with global consequences.

Pingvin lort

https://videnskab.dk/naturvidenskab/pingvinlort-danner-skyer-over-antarktis-en-overset-beskyttelse-mod-klimaforandringer/

Pingvinlort danner skyer over Antarktis: En overset beskyttelse mod klimaforandringer?

Pungent Penguin Poop Produces Polar Cloud Particles - Eos

Regn på Antarktis

Regn på vej til Antarktis, og det vil forandre det isdækkede kontinent

Mærkeligt liv fundet under Antarktis:

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-strange-creatures-accidentally-beneath-antarctica.html?fbclid=IwdGRleARpCzNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEerViaBDjmgQUZF7HNb4D2m_ruYldpie98pLSCQAf90hRNu3ug2ghvarQQRVA_aem_SLTlRGyB4a3nX7MN_6hFaQ

Gamle ting vi har snakket om tidligere:

1) Fra episode nov/dec 2022:

Under iskappen på Antarkis løber der en 460 kilometer lang flod.

The researchers behind the discovery used a combination of airborne radar surveys that can peer through the ice, plus water flow modeling. The large area under examination includes ice from both the east and west ice sheets in the Antarctic, with water running off into the Weddell Sea.

"The region where this study is based holds enough ice to raise the sea level globally by 4.3 meters," says glaciologist Martin Siegert from Imperial College London in the UK.

"How much of this ice melts, and how quickly, is linked to how slippery the base of the ice is. The newly discovered river system could strongly influence this process."

"When we first discovered lakes beneath the Antarctic ice a couple of decades ago, we thought they were isolated from each other," says Siegert.

"Now we are starting to understand there are whole systems down there, interconnected by vast river networks, just as they might be if there weren't thousands of meters of ice on top of them."

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-just-discovered-a-huge-river-hidden-under-antarctica

2) I 2018, nævnte vi at man havde fundet en varmekilde under isen i Antarktis:

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