Researchers say that a major current in the Atlantic may be on its way to collapsing, raising fears of a massive climate shift and a new Ice Age in Europe.
A major current that runs the length of the Atlantic Ocean and plays an important role in the planet's climate may be approaching a tipping point that would lead to its collapse, researchers have suggested.The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is a current that carries warm water north and cool water south, and is part of a network of currents across the world's oceans that influences global weather patterns and temperatures.
The modelling demonstrates that the more freshwater that is added to the ocean, the more its power to transport saline water decreases. When the AMOC's strength reaches 10 Sverdrups—a measure of volumetric flow, where one is equivalent to a million cubic meters a second—within a hundred-year period it is expected to drop rapidly to 2 Sverdrups.
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