Washington - QNA
A new study published this week in Science Advances, suggested there was a link between the climate in Antarctica, at the southernmost point of our planet, and the arctic, located in the very north.
Data suggests that when the arctic would cool, the Antarctic would warm. The research team believes that the inverse relationship between the two poles is due to an ocean current that keeps Europe and North America warm during the winter.
Called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation or AMOC, this current shuttles warm water from south to north, keeping temperatures in the North Atlantic from plummeting during the winter. It influences rainfall and wind patterns across the planet, and circulates nutrients in ocean. In other words, the AMOC is incredibly important for the planet’s global climate patterns.
In 2005, on an Antarctic ridge that’s considered the coldest place in the world, a team of researchers plunged a drill through miles of ice. The mission, led by Japan’s National Institute of Polar Research, was to extract nearly 800,000 years of Earth’s climate history.
Source: QNA