SCARY SLOWDOWN

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the Atlantic Ocean’s key circulation system, transports water masses northward at the surface and southward at the ocean’s bottom. The recently discovered AMOC decline during the last decades may be associated with an almost complete loss of its stability over the course of the last century, and mean the AMOC could be close to a critical transition to its weak circulation mode. That might lead to faster sea level rise along parts of the US East Coast and Europe, stronger hurricanes hitting the Southeastern United States, lower temperatures in Europe, reduced rainfall across parts of Africa, further endanger the Amazon rainforest and Antarctic ice sheets. and changes in tropical monsoon systems. How likely a total shutdown is, no one knows, but it’s certainly a wake up call. 

www.nytimes.com/2021/08/05/us/gulf-stream-collapse.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01097-4.epdf?sharing_token=0bVdKgLInaQjdAXv2mCSZtRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0ODQw4Na6S4LwvIIwjZ_S3NdBoG6pi8c5NBfIwoUKp1VK_OHHszXMnB3OMoyz8L8emOhG-hoDsJyn1YMubz_IampYbIRg_8P9vjnfIPPzRQwm6m9BfwEGfoLu0JsB4E2trSfyu4r947mOz1oZQlyxQxw499vrZGcuutvgtykhpE1s1h0iFyBG1ZtCSpqX_SLvo%3D&tracking_referrer=www.washingtonpost.com