A team of international researchers led by the University of Galway has discovered what could lead to an increased chance of extreme weather events and disruptive changes to seasonality across Europe
The new insights into climate change have been unveiled through their exploration of the Arctic Ocean and have been published in the scientific journal Biogeosciences.
The research focuses on CO2 storage and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation - a system of ocean currents that circulates water within the Atlantic Ocean.
This system plays a key role in removing CO2 from the atmosphere and is under threat from increasing global warming.
Findings from this research allow scientists to travel back in time to test whether the rate that CO2 is removed from the atmosphere is reduced when the AMOC slows down.
The research team studied a tiny plankton organism, which has helped reveal records of marine currents and changes to the system that circulates water north and south.
The consequences of AMOC slowing down are drastic - less carbon being absorbed by oceans means an increased chance of extreme weather events and disruptive changes to seasonality across Europe.
