About 13,000 years ago, a climate crisis caused a global drop in temperatures in the northern hemisphere. This episode of intense cold, known as the Younger Dryas, also caused severe aridity across the Mediterranean basin, which had a major impact on terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
But what do we know about the impact of this climate change on water circulation in the Mediterranean?
Through an innovative technique based of neodymium radiogenic isotopes, this new study demonstrates that the flow of water masses from the eastern Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean during the Younger Dryas doubled the actual flow. Such situation would have implied an injection of salt into the North Atlantic, just when its circulation was slowing down, thus, contributing to the reactivation its circulation, that led to a rapid warming in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
Our study is of great relevance since a reduction of the North Atlantic circulation is expected in the next few years due to the global warming. This situation could be comparable to that of the Younger-Dryas where a significant reduction of rainfall in the Mediterranean occurred. In this context, our work reveals that the increase in aridity expected by the end of the century could intensify the Mediterranean circulation, but is unknown if the temperature increase could counteract this effect.
Study published in Nature's Communications Earth and Environment journal as Trias-Navarro, S.; Pena, L.D.; de la Fuente, M.; Paredes, E.; Garcia-Solsona, E.; Frigola, J.; Català, A.; Caruso, A.; Lirer, F.; Haghipour, N.; Noel Pérez-Asensio, J.; Cacho, I. “Eastern Mediterranean water outflow during the Younger Dryas was twice that of the present day”. Communications Earth & Environment, April 2023. Doi: /10.1038/s43247-023-00812-7