Effect of destroying the Antarctic Circumpolar Current?

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is a current which endlessly circles around Antarctica. (Deets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Circumpolar_Current ) The key factors I want to highlight are:

• This current isolates A. from warm waters which might otherwise melt those huge ice shelves

• There is a great phytoplankton zone around the edge of the current where it meets warmer waters

• It flows from west to east

So far so good. Now some aliens want to use a very intricate machine to raise a mountain range to block off the ocean between the Palmer Peninsula and South America. Look here:

What I expect to happen is that the cold current hits the mountains and turns north along the coast of Chile, and a warm one flows down Argentina and thaws Antarctica.

Here's the question... What will the impact to Chilean climate be? I'm concerned that the cold current will make the subpolar climate extend much further north, thus ruining the lives of Chileans and their agriculture. Will Chile be destroyed by my geoengineering hubris?

posted over 6 years ago

akaioi‭

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