What do you call the arrival of events that have been predicted but, when predicted, were described as distressing or even terrifying? But some news from ocean science may prove more surprising still — perhaps genuinely paradigm-shifting. This key part of the circulation of the Southern Ocean “looks headed towards collapse this century,” study coordinator Matthew England told Yale Environment 360. “And once collapsed, it would most likely stay collapsed until Antarctic melting stopped. At current projections that could be centuries away.”Then, last week, some of the same researchers confirmed that the process was already unfolding — in fact, that the Southern Ocean overturning circulation had already slowed by as much as 30 percent since the 1990s.

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Persons: Matthew England, ”, Steve Rintoul, who’d Organizations: Yale Environment Locations: Pacific Northwest, Canada, El