The report, published in the journal Nature, examined the deepest waters in the ocean and play a key role in the circulation of heat and nutrients around the world, the BBC reported.
In the report, which revealed that stagnation in deep ocean currents occurred with the melting of Antarctic glaciers, it was noted that this situation adversely affected the climate.
It was stated that the stagnation was caused by the decrease in the density of seawater as the Antarctic glaciers, which are freshwater sources, melted, and the slowdown of the downward movement in the waters that became less salty.
The stagnation of deep ocean currents, which have been relatively stable for thousands of years in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, reduces the ability of the oceans to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and therefore has a negative impact on the climate, the scientists said.
Australian researchers predict that if global temperature rise continues at current rates, deep-water currents diverting the oceans will decrease by 40 percent by 2050.
Marine scientist Adele Morrison, who contributed to the report, said that as the circulation in the oceans slows, the surface water quickly reaches the capacity to absorb carbon, not being replaced by unsaturated water from deeper depths, making it difficult for nutrients to emerge from the seabed.