According to a study published in the Nature Geoscience, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) that underpins the Gulf Stream is at its weakest in never before in a 1,000 years.
- Scientists predict that the AMOC will weaken further if global heating continues, and could reduce by about 34% to 45% by the end of this century.
- A weakened Gulf Stream would also raise sea levels on the Atlantic coast of the US, with potentially disastrous consequences.
What is Gulf Stream?
- The Gulf Stream is a strong ocean current that brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic Ocean. It extends all the way up the eastern coast of the United States and Canada.
- This strong current of warm water influences the climate of the east coast of Florida (US), keeping temperatures there warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer than the other southeastern states.
- Since the Gulf Stream also extends toward Europe, it warms western European countries as well.
- In fact, England is about the same distance from the equator as cold regions of Canada, yet England enjoys a much warmer climate. If it weren’t for the warm water of the Gulf Stream, England would have a much colder climate.
- As the warm water comes in, colder, denser water sinks and begins moving south—eventually flowing along the bottom of the ocean all the way to Antarctica.
(The Guardian and )
