A group of British oceanographers studied changes in the salinity of seawater in the north Atlantic and concluded that fresh water coming from melting Arctic ice is likely to affect summer weather in Europe.
Extreme temperature fluctuations in Europe are explained by the strong melting of the Arctic ice and the Greenland Ice Sheet.
As a result of the formation of cyclone anomalies, deviations to the north of the North Atlantic current (continuation of the Gulf Stream) in the south of the subpolar zone become warmer, winds shift to the north. These effects of cyclones lead to anticyclones over Europe and, consequently, to the warmer and drier weather in the region, oceanographers have established.
"Based on the identified chain of events, we expect ocean-atmospheric conditions to be favorable for an unusually warm and dry summer over Southern Europe this year," said the head of the research group Marilena Oltmanns, as cited by atomic-energy.ru.
Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished
