An unprecedented change in the overturning circulation of the Southern Ocean since 2015—marked by a sudden rise in surface salinity and collapse of Antarctic sea ice—signals a potential tipping point in the global climate system. This shift, coupled with evidence of accelerating weakening in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), may mark the early stages of an earth system phase shift, though there is considerable uncertainty due to the complexity of these systems.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://ageoftransformation.org/into-the-maelstrom-southern-ocean-amoc-and-the-onset-of-a-planetary-phase-shift