The Ocean
To survive and prosper, we all need healthy oceans.
The Oceans are the largest ecosystems on Earth, they are the Earth's largest life support systems.
Awareness creates caring, caring leads to change.
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)
Most of us know the Golf stream. The Golf stream is part of a bigger system called the "Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation". You can imagine this system like a big ocean current that circulates water within the Atlantic Ocean, bringing warm water north and cold water south. Currently, there is growing evidence that the speed of the AMOC is slowing down. Below, you find non-technical information and a video addressing the crucial questions:
Is the AMOC approaching a Tipping point?
What would it mean for us if the AMOC would slow down even further and/or eventually stop?
Great Video
Prof. Rahmstorf discusses the danger of a major ocean circulation change with massive climate impacts around the world. This lecture was held on the occasion of Rahmstorf being awarded the Alfred Wegener Medal for his scientific achievements, the most prestigious award of the European Geosciences Union EGU.
Great Summary
A peer-reviewed, open-access and fully referenced article (understandable for non-experts) on this topic was published in Oceanography magazine in 2024: click here.
A Plastic Ocean
I highly recommend watching the documentary A Plastic Ocean. Watch the Trailer
The movie for rent: https://www.plasticoceans.org/buy-or-rent-a-plastic-ocean/
Why the Ocean is important to Everyone (2021)
Professor Stefan Rahmstorf (Professor of Physics of the Oceans) explains in 24 minutes "why the ocean is important to Everyone".
What is Climate Change exactly?
The newspapers write more and more about global warming, extreme weather events, flooding, the gulf stream, and CO2 emissions. But how does it all fit together? What does global warming actually mean? You do not need to be a physicist to understand the context and linkages. The following two lectures (each of 30 minutes) give an excellent overview. The first lecture covers the basic facts about global warming. The second lecture discusses the impacts of climate change. Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf already recorded these lectures in 2009! The projections turned out to be correct, and the content is still up to date.