Bering

We haven’t been talking about it for years without reason, the consequences of the end of the Gulf Stream would be catastrophic in much of the northern hemisphere and, above all, for Europe. For this reason, many scientists have stopped wondering if it is going to happen or not; and they have begun to wonder how we avoid it. And beyond the well-known emissions cut, the responses have sincerely been tremendous: from proposals to cool the Arctic or launch orbital sunshades into space to chartering planes to fertilize the ocean with millions and millions of tons of iron… But perhaps the last one is the one that takes the cake: some climatologists have started doing the math to see What would happen if we closed the Bering Strait. What is this about the Gulf Stream? Its technical name is ‘Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation’ and it is, in general terms, the North Atlantic branch of the thermohaline circulation. Since the sun does not heat the sea equally everywhere and freshwater flows reach the ocean at very specific points, this is the basic mechanism by which the oceans balance differences in temperature and salinity. The AMOC is a good example of this regulation. After all, as explained from AEMETit is an “Atlantic basin-scale north-south ocean flow that begins with cold sea water sinking to the bottom off Greenland, subsequently flowing south, and being replaced by warmer water flowing at the surface from the south, transferring heat from the tropics to the east coast of North America and the west coast of Europe.” And why do they want to build a dam in the Bering Strait? Well, strictly speaking, they don’t want to close the Bering Strait, they just picked up the idea of ​​a Soviet engineer from the 1950s and they have done calculations to see if this could help resolve the issue. It may seem somewhat counterintuitive, but the basic idea is that cutting off the flow of waters from the Pacific to the Arctic would favor the creation of deep waters (due to the difference in salinities). The calculations show that it makes sense. How does that make sense? Well, yes, it’s true. It makes partial sense. Here’s the interesting thing: As long as the AMOC can continue moving salt northward, the mechanism works and protects the climate of the Northern Hemisphere. On the other hand, if the AMOC is weakened, the closure of Bering would have the opposite effect. It would plunge us into an even more complex winter. Thank goodness it’s crazy, right? It is not very realistic, that is clear. But I’m not sure I’d say it’s crazy either. As the authors themselves acknowledge, there are already dams (such as the Saemangeum in Korea) that are 33 kilometers long: half of what would be required to close the strait. So is it something viable? Nobody says that. Not even the authors say so.. But it is something interesting in order to reflect on one of the great themes of the future: the increasingly imperative “need” of humanity to take the reins of control of the planet. Something that, in short, can cost us very dearly. Image | Fictional recreation In Xataka | The current that warms Europe will weaken by 51% before the end of the century. And Spain, according to experts, is already beginning to notice