Academic Journal

Limited impact of Greenland meltwater on abruptness and reversibility of future Atlantic overturning changes.

Bibliographic Details
Title: Limited impact of Greenland meltwater on abruptness and reversibility of future Atlantic overturning changes.
Authors: Mehling, Oliver1,2 o.m.mehling@uu.nl, Bellomo, Katinka1,3, Fabiano, Federico4, Devilliers, Marion5, Petrini, Michele6, Corti, Susanna4, Hardenberg, Jost von1,7
Source: Science Advances. 6/19/2026, Vol. 12 Issue 25, p1-12. 12p.
Subject Terms: *Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, *Climate change forecasts, *Glacial melting, *Climate change, *Global warming, *Atmospheric models, *First-order phase transitions
Geographic Terms: Greenland, Atlantic Ocean
Abstract: All climate models project that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) will weaken in the 21st century, but most models neglect increasing runoff from the Greenland ice sheet. Greenland meltwater is expected to exacerbate AMOC weakening, and omitting it increases the uncertainty in assessing the possibility of an abrupt AMOC collapse or tipping. Here, we test the abruptness and reversibility of AMOC changes under strong future global warming in a state-of-the-art climate model with and without high-end but physically plausible Greenland meltwater forcing. In this model, Greenland meltwater significantly exacerbates future AMOC weakening especially after 2100, but the AMOC changes until 2300 are neither abrupt nor irreversible on centennial timescales, even with added meltwater. While accounting for Greenland meltwater will increase the accuracy of climate projections, our results do not suggest a major role of Greenland meltwater for assessing the risk of future AMOC tipping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Database: Academic Search Index
Description
ISSN:23752548
DOI:10.1126/sciadv.aed2633