Leading climate scientists are warning that a key Atlantic current could soon collapse, “affecting the entire world for centuries to come.”

Forty-four of the world’s leading climate scientists have called on Nordic politicians to pay attention to a potentially inevitable and “devastating” collapse of key Atlantic Ocean currents.

IN open letter published online Monday (October 21), University of Pennsylvania climate scientist. Michael Mann and other prominent scientists talk about the risks weakening of ocean circulation in the Atlantic were greatly underestimated and require urgent action.

These are the currents that form the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a giant ocean conveyor belt that includes the Gulf Stream and carries vital heat to the Northern Hemisphere. Research shows AMOC slows down And may soon reach a turning point due to global warming plunging the Earth’s climate into chaos.

“Such a change in ocean circulation would have devastating and irreversible consequences, especially for the Nordic countries, but also for other parts of the world,” the scientists wrote in the letter. The Nordic countries include Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden.

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According to the letter, the collapse of the AMOC will lead to severe cooling and extreme weather conditions in the Nordic countries. This would increase and deepen the strange “cold drop” that already developed in the eastern North Atlantic due to the slowdown of heat-carrying currents. The collapse of ocean currents could also accelerate climate impacts in the Northern Hemisphere. threat to agriculture in North-West Europeaccording to the letter.

Map of the main ocean currents of the Atlantic Ocean.

Map of ocean currents in the Atlantic. (Image credit: Peter Hermes Furian via Shutterstock)

According to scientists, other regions will also feel the consequences. If AMOC stops, it will cause tropical monsoon systems to shift southward – with catastrophic consequences for agriculture and ecosystems. Stopping ocean currents could also lead to further sea level rise along the U.S. Atlantic coast and throw marine ecosystems and fisheries into a state of “upheaval.”

Without urgent action to combat climate change, AMOC could collapse in the next few decadesalthough, according to the letter, there is huge uncertainty in the projected timing. Last report The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says there is “moderate confidence that the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation will not collapse abruptly before 2100,” but scientists say that’s a low estimate.

According to the letter, the IPCC’s assessment is not only inaccurate, but also disturbing.

“The purpose of this letter is to draw attention to the fact that only ‘moderate confidence’ that AIOC will not collapse is not reassuring and clearly leaves open the possibility of AIOC collapse within this century,” the scientists wrote. “Even at an average likelihood of occurrence, given that the outcome would be catastrophic and impact the entire world for centuries to come, we believe more needs to be done to minimize this risk.”

The scientists sent a letter to the Nordic Council of Ministers, an intergovernmental forum whose task is to promote cooperation between the Nordic countries. They called on policymakers to seriously consider the risks posed by AMOC’s collapse and increase pressure on international partners to stay close to the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to keep average global temperature rise to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius). pre-industrial level.

Leading climate scientists are warning that a key Atlantic current could soon collapse, “affecting the entire world for centuries to come.”

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