Means of Extinction: Antarctic "Super Vortex" is Accelerating

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From the Daily Mail in the UK comes an article titled Antarctica ‘super vortex’ is speeding up due to climate change – and it could melt thousands of square miles of sea ice, study reveals. The article was published on 27 March 2024. More sensationalist headlines appear in other outlets. From the Daily Star on 4 April 2024 is Antarctica ‘super vortex’ could put mankind underwater like an ‘apocalyptic film.’ From LAD Bible dot com on 1 April 2024 is Urgent warning over Antarctic ‘super vortex’ that could affect fate of humanity. In addition to serving as click-bait, these headlines might be more accurate than the one in the Daily Mail. Corporate media outlets tend to avoid articles about human extinction.

The story in the Daily Mail refers to a peer-reviewed, open-access paper in Nature. Here’s the lede from the article in the Daily Mail: “A massive vortex of ocean water encircling Antarctica, a swirling volume 100-times larger than all the world’s rivers combined, is getting faster due to  climate change.”

The vortex is known as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. It slows during Earth’s cool periods, such as during Ice Ages. It hastens when the planet warms. Considering we are undergoing the fastest rate of environmental change in planetary history, according even to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its 8 October 2018 report Global Warming of 1.5 Degrees, it comes as no surprise that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current represents a threat leading to the extinction of all life on Earth.

The article in the Daily Mail begins with three key points: (1) Antarctic Circumpolar Current churns 6 billion cubic-feet of water per second; (2) the vortex slows during cool eras, like the Ice Age, but speeds up with global warming; and (3) researchers drilled 500- to 650-ft-long deep sea sediment cores for the study.

A co-author of the peer-reviewed paper, a geochemist from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, said “This is the mightiest and fastest current on the planet. It is arguably the most important current of the Earth climate system.” Regarding the study published in Nature, she said that the new study “implies that the retreat or collapse of Antarctic ice is mechanistically linked to enhanced [Antarctic Circumpolar Current] flow.” The co-author quoted is one of 38 scholars who produced this peer-reviewed paper.

The lead author of the peer-reviewed paper was quoted in the Daily Mail article: “… loss of ice can be attributed to increased heat transport to the south. A stronger [Antarctic Circumpolar Current] means more warm, deep water reaches the ice-shelf edge of Antarctica.” The obvious, concerning result is the increasingly rapid melting of Antarctic ice.

The peer-reviewed, open-access paper in Nature was published 27 March 2024. It is titled Five million years of Antarctic Circumpolar Current strength variability. The bottom line comes from the final paragraph of a section subtitled ACC strength and Antarctic ice sheets. This paragraph references several other peer-reviewed papers and a Figure in this paper: “The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays a crucial role in heat uptake and transfer to lower latitudes and ocean circulation on a global scale. In this context, our palaeo reconstructions provide insights for global climate simulations that face substantial challenges in projecting future Antarctic Circumpolar Current and Southern Ocean changes and impacts on the carbon cycle. Strong Antarctic Circumpolar Current flow, exceeding that of the preindustrial Holocene, mainly occurred during warmer-than-present time intervals during the Pliocene and Pleistocene interglacials. Observed Antarctic Circumpolar Current acceleration under anthropogenic warming (for example, intensified warming in the central South Pacific compared with the Drake Passage) seem to match the patterns documented in our records of Antarctic Circumpolar Current strength maxima during interglacial warm intervals. These findings provide geological evidence in support of further increasing Antarctic Circumpolar Current flow with continued global warming. If true, a future increase in ACC flow with warming climate would mark a continuation of the pattern observed in instrumental records, with probable negative consequences for the future Southern Ocean uptake of anthropogenic CO₂.”