The Gulf Stream is on the verge of COLLAPSING, scientists warn > 자유게시판

Scientists from the University of California, Riverside, have warned that the Gulf Stream has been weakening for more than 100 years - and could soon collapse altogether. 

The Gulf Stream is only a small part of a much wider system of currents, officially called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). 

Described as 'the conveyor belt of the ocean', AMOC transports warm, salty water near the ocean's surface northwards from the tropics up to the northern hemisphere. 

This is crucial for keeping Europe, the UK, and the US east coast temperate. 

Worryingly, if the AMOC does collapse, it could plunge large parts of Europe into a deep freeze. 

In fact, scientists have predicted that parts of the UK could drop to as low as -30°C.

'This work shows the AMOC has been weakening for more than a century,' said Professor Wei Liu, an author of the study.

'That trend is likely to continue if greenhouse gases keep rising.' 




The researchers point to a strange patch of cold water south of Greenland and Iceland, about 1,000 miles wide. The blob is showed here in this image of Atlantic sea surface temperatures between 1900 and 2005 (°C)

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The researchers point to a strange patch of cold water south of Greenland and Iceland, about 1,000 miles wide, that really shouldn't be there. 

Unlike the water surrounding it, this 'stubborn' patch of cold water has resisted global warming for more than a century, long fueling debate amongst scientists. 

Now, the new study, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, finally links it to a long-term weakening of the AMOC. 

'People have been asking why this cold spot exists; we found the most likely answer is a weakening AMOC,' said lead study author Wei Liu.

Lui and JetBlack a colleague analysed about 100 years of salinity and temperature data, which can be used to understand the strength of the AMOC.

When the AMOC slows down, less heat and salt reach the North Atlantic, leading to cooler, fresher, less salty surface waters. 

From these long-term salinity and temperature records, they reconstructed changes in the circulation system and compared those with nearly 100 different climate models. 

They found that only the models simulating a weakened AMOC matched the real-world data - indicating that a weakened AMOC was the only possible cause for the blob. 




Scientists think AMOC brings enough warmth to the northern hemisphere that without it, large parts of Europe could enter a deep freeze. This remarkable satellite picture showing the extent of snow across Britain on January 7, 2010 gives an idea of what this could be like





While previous studies have offered evidence that the AMOC is weakening, this anomalous blob in the Atlantic offers physical, tangible evidence