The potential collapse of a key Atlantic ocean current − due to human-caused climate change − is in the news again.
You’d be hard-pressed to come up with a scarier scenario than what’s going on now with the “Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC),” the fickle Atlantic ocean current whose weakening and eventual collapse could change the climate and weather for hundreds of millions of people.
A pair of new scientific studies detail the present and potential future of the AMOC, which was the ocean current at the center of the fictional (and scientifically inaccurate) “Day After Tomorrow” climate change disaster movie in 2004.
In one study released April 8, scientists at the University of Miami determined that over the past 20 years, the AMOC has already been weakening at four different locations in the Atlantic. In the other study, released April 16, a separate group of European scientists said the AMOC will weaken by 50% by 2100, potentially eventually leading to its “collapse.”
A weakening AMOC means the Atlantic Ocean’s climate‑regulating currents slow down over a period of a few decades, while a collapse means the entire current system crosses a tipping point and mostly shuts down − triggering abrupt, potentially irreversible global climate disruptions.
Studies – https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx4298
No government is going to do anything about something happening after the year 2100.
Exactly! If it doesn’t benefit them publicly before the next election, no government will act.
Compulsory “If you’ve been paying attention we have known about this and every other catastrophic event since at least the 1970’s. We aren’t listening to the right people.”
Millions if not billions of people are going to be severely at risk and even die. The vast majority of these people will be brown or black. The majority of these people will be children.
We as a species should be ashamed putting the well being of a small few over the majority.
The optimism is we will science our way out of this. Humanity is like a monkeys paw.
So I guess what I’m saying is on the individual level everyone open their eyes don’t be a dick and leave the world better than you came into it. Beyond that, sit back and enjoy the show no one really knows what they’re doing but the majority of us are doing our best.
Maybe a little doomer view.
I wanna point that we did listenen the right people after 1970’s and we pretty much fixed the ozone hole and mitigated acidic rains. Shame we have decited to stop it for some reason.
Also ironically to your statement AMOC effects most the northern europe and there is problem with small birthrate so in this particular catasrophe most people suffering will be white and children will be minority.
Edit; small edit to make the text harder to misunderstand.
Oh whew, the picture only shoes the Atlantic Ocean. I’m safe then.
I’d say that giving Trump nuclear launch codes is just as scary.
I remember The Day After Tomorrow, it was an okay film but it solidified in me the fear of climate change. The movie may not be scientifically accurate, mainly because they got the temperatures backwards. In the movie, the world froze starting at the poles. IRL, it’s going to boil and burn starting from the equator.
The most frightening climate movie is still “Don’t look up”
Iirc that’s already started. All the growing zones have moved further north or south from where they used to be when I was a kid (back in the early 60’s).
Oh yeah I’ve seen it myself. I’d like to move up north to get ahead of it, but there’s national lines to get across and taking my pets would be difficult at best.
I’ve also been noticing that since I was a kid (90s/00s), back then there was a white winter every singe year in my area. Now we’re lucky if we get any snow at all during winter.
Then I’ll hear some rube say that ‘global warming isn’t real,’ like what bitch?! Have you not been paying attention?!
While that is true. If the Atlantic ocean current stops, the poles will freeze, and start a new ice age in northern Europe and North America, while also boiling the equator.
Except the warming oceans prevent that.
The oceans won’t be warming equally everywhere if there isn’t a proper current to tranport the heat around. The oceans will warm a lot by the equator, and freeze around the poles.
At least northern Asia will be fine
I tiought it was ice age in north europe and heat waves and hurricanes in north america, it carries hot water up north and cold water from the poles down the american east coast.
Sorry, but why would we not use the name AMOC and instead call it the “22 year old movie current”?
… It needs to have a title that Americans might actually read.
You know, half a football field, approximately 8 hamburgers, instead of actual measurements?
We’re on average 5th graders, as far as reading ability goes.
Last I saw it was 3rd grade. I would be hyped if it’s still at 5th
Down to 3rd grade?
The zombie apocalypse is progressing that rapidly?
What about “Aging Movie is Ominously Current” or AMOC for short?
Golf claps
Well done, old chap!Another Menacing Ocean Con?
For the clicks.
‘Scientist warn that environmental acronym is fucked’ is a headline everyone has learned to tune out.
But if maybe Jake Gyllenhaal can save us… I mean, now you want to know more, right?
I was really more thinking “Wait…what happened in that movie? Shit, when did I even watch that movie? Like 2007?”
The movie was based loosely on a ‘non-fiction’ book written by radio host and conspiracy theorist Art Bell.
So basically, that’s where we are currently with the state of discourse involving environmental science. We are being warned about something of massive significance and dire consequence by way of a reference to a 20 year old Roland Emmerich movie based on a book written by a loonie…
I’m not real hopeful for our chances as a species…
Oh don’t worry, I know all about Art Bell and his book ‘The Coming Global Superstorm.’
Still waiting on that “Quickening” he was talking about all those years ago.
Probably because most people wouldn’t know what that acronym stood for.
Sure, but “Atlantic” and/or “Ocean” were right there.
So I guess we’ve just completely given up on how to use acronyms and abbreviations. I’ve noticed that a increasing amount of people will just use them without explaining it, they just expect others will either already know what it means or will do a search and figure it out. As a non-native English speaker it drives me up the wall. I find my self asking what a acronym/abbreviation means at least once per week, sometimes multiple times a week.
I thought that explaining the acronym on the first use, and then using it as is was the common and courteous way to use them, WTF (what the fuck) happened to that, I do wonder.
As a native English speaker, I concur with your feelings on the matter. I absolutely hate when someone does that and sometimes I won’t even bother to finish reading what someone wrote if they just start using acronyms all willy nilly. Hell, you can’t even point out spelling errors or grammar errors anymore without upsetting someone.
I sure as hell don’t
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
Rolls right off the tongue.
Just like it does near Greenland
I need a filter to eliminate any science article with quotes in the title
If I’m not mistaken, the movie posited that the temperature collapse is happening faster than we think and accelerated to collapse all at the same time.
The estimate is 2100 but that’s just an estimate. Reality is that it could happen at any time.
There’s nothing scientifically inaccurate about that part IMO. There’s positive feedback loops hiding everywhere. The bad things come in bursts. For example, melting ice releases trapped methane, causing higher temperatures and more melting ice. Who knows how fast this goes
At the time of the film’s release, it offered a new theory about what could happen to Earth’s climate in the future. Sure many scientist just laughed to this scenario. The funny thing is that AMOC research started in the same year. All we have is data from 2004 to the present, of course that is not enough to draw conclusions about our future climate.
Earth’s climate is complex, studying AMOC alone is not enough. And one of the biggest problem is that there are other MOCs, not just AMOC, any changes to AMOC will impact other MOCs. And there is a new research called the SAMOC Initiative started 5 yr ago.
Remember to duck when the helicopters come tumbling down.
In 2100. That’s more than enough time to reboot Friends at least twice. I’m not worried.
It was shitty the first fucking time. We don’t need to make that crap again.
It will be better this time. There will be a gay Friend, a lesbian friend, a black friend and an Asian Friend. Maybe make the Lesbian a Hispanic, too, and kill two Friends with one stone.
Just spitballing but… Maybe we could kill all of them with a stone?
It’s the next generations problem, and I ain’t breeding so what do I have to worry about 😂😭
Dogs will still be around and they’re gonna suffer
Ditto cats if you’re a cat lover.
Guess I’ll bring my parka next time I visit Europe :(
France will fortunately not be affected.
I wonder if it would be possible to set up turbines somewhere to accelerate that current.
Turbines extract energy from flowing fluids. They’d make it worse, if anything.
Oh, I completely misread this comment. I thought they were pitching we should speed things up and make it worse and get it over with 😂
the amount of energy involved in the AMOC exceeds the entire output of our civilization, dude
Powered by what?
A current we don’t like. Or alternatively, whales. Harnessed to the blades.
Geothermal
Better yet Geothermwhales
Oil.
Calm down everyone, we will be fine
/s?
?
