25 March 14:00-15:30 CET

The AMOC Tipping Point: Impacts on Climate and Extreme Events

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a crucial part of Earth’s climate system, responsible for redistributing heat around the globe and influencing weather patterns. Recent studies suggest that this vital system of ocean currents could be approaching a tipping point, with potentially dramatic impacts on climate and extreme weather events worldwide.

Join AIMES, the Earth Commission, Future Earth, and the WCRP's Safe Landing Climates Lighthouse Activity for a webinar exploring the potential impacts of an AMOC tipping event on Europe’s climate. In this event, we explore the AMOC tipping mechanisms under an idealised freshwater flux forcing and different climate change scenarios. Our speakers will discuss future climate scenarios under various emissions pathways and examine how internal climate variability could accelerate the collapse of the AMOC. Tune in to gain valuable insights into the complex interplay between AMOC dynamics and climate change.

Presentations

  • Anastasia Romanou (NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies/Columbia University) AMOC bifurcation - tipping due to internal climate variability
  • René van Westen (The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute) AMOC Tipping Events under different Forcing Scenarios
  • Q&A/ Discussion 

Moderated by Beatriz Arellano Nava (University of Exeter)

The recording will be provided below:

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Speakers

Anastasia Romanou
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies/Columbia University

Dr. Anastasia Romanou is a Research Physical Scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), specializing in oceanography and climate variability. She holds a Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography from Florida State University and an M.Sc. in Oceanography from the University of Athens. Dr. Romanou's research interests encompass the Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), ocean heat and carbon uptake, and their roles in climate systems. She also investigates air-sea fluxes in the North Atlantic and explores ocean and climate feedbacks in collaboration with global scientists. Additionally, Dr. Romanou is an adjunct associate professor at Columbia University and has held several postdoctoral and research scientist positions.

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René van Westen
The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute

Dr. René M. van Westen is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Utrecht University, specializing in physical oceanography and climate dynamics. His current work focuses on tipping points in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and broader Earth system changes. He completed his Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography at Utrecht University, where he investigated ocean processes in the Atlantic sector. Dr. van Westen has contributed to several influential publications, including studies on tropical cyclone responses to climate change and the impact of ocean eddies on global sea-level projections.

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Beatriz Arellano Nava
University of Exeter

Beatriz Arellano is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Global Systems Institute, University of Exeter. She earned her PhD by uncovering early warning signals for tipping points encoded in bivalve shells. Her research focused on identifying episodes of destabilisation in the North Atlantic over the past millennium and exploring the potential mechanisms associated with them. Her current research focuses on understanding the potential impact of seabed disturbances on carbon dioxide release.

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All you need to know

This event is part of a series of online discussions aims to advance the knowledge about tipping elements, irreversibility, and abrupt changes in the Earth system. It supports efforts to increase consistency in treatment of tipping elements in the scientific community, develop a research agenda, and design joint experiments and ideas for a Tipping Element Model Intercomparison Project (TipMip).

This discussion series is a joint activity of the Analysis, Integration, and Modeling of the Earth System (AIMES) global research project of Future Earth, the Earth Commission Working Group 1 Earth and Human Systems Intercomparison Modelling Project (EHSMIP) under the Global Commons Alliance and the Safe Landing Climates Lighthouse Activity of World Climate Research Program (WCRP).

Organized by

Analysis, Integration, and Modeling of the Earth System (AIMES)

The Analysis, Integration, and Modeling of the Earth System (AIMES) project is an international network of Earth system scientists and scholars that seek to develop innovative, interdisciplinary ways to understand the complexity of the natural world and its interactions with human activities. AIMES is a global research project of Future Earth.

Future Earth

Future Earth is a global network of scientists, researchers, and innovators collaborating for a more sustainable planet. Future Earth initiates and supports international collaboration between researchers and stakeholders to identify and generate the integrated knowledge needed for successful transformations towards societies that provide good and fair lives for all within a stable and resilient Earth system. Future Earth is the host of the Earth Commission.

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)is an international research institute that advances systems analysis and applies its research methods to identify policy solutions to reduce human footprints, enhance the resilience of natural and socioeconomic systems, and help achieve the sustainable development goals.

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) is advancing the frontier of integrated research for global sustainability, and for a safe and just climate future. A member of the Leibniz Association, the institute is based in Potsdam, Brandenburg and connected with the global scientific community. Drawing on excellent research, PIK provides relevant scientific advice for policy decision-making. The institute’s international staff of about 400 is led by a committed interdisciplinary team of Directors.

University of Exeter, Global Systems Institute

The Global Systems Institute (GSI) is thought-leading in understanding global changes, solving global challenges and helping create a flourishing future world together, through transformative research, education and impact. GSI's aim is to work with others to secure a flourishing future for humanity as an integral part of a life-sustaining Earth system. GSI's aim to be a ‘go to’ place for global change researchers from around the world, bringing them together with industry, policymakers, students and other stakeholders to tackle shared problems, and acting as a catalyst that enables translation of this research into applications that deliver tangible and sustainable social and ecological benefit.

WCRP Safe Landing Climates Lighthouse Activity.

The Safe Landing Climates Lighthouse Activity is an exploration of the routes to “safe landing” spaces for human and natural systems. It will explore future pathways that avoid dangerous climate change while at the same time contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including those of climate action, zero hunger, clean water and sanitation, good health and well-being, affordable and clean energy, and healthy ecosystems above and below water. The relevant time scale is multi-decadal to millennial.