North Atlantic's Major Current System - Threatened by Climate Change

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a crucial element in the Earth’s climate system and is influenced by both atmospheric and thermohaline factors. In this article, Pitamber Kaushik highlights how increased ocean heat content and greater cold freshwater inputs from melting Arctic ice sheets caused by climate change threaten the AMOC. In the event of an AMOC collapse, more pronounced extreme weather events including heat waves, cold waves, drought, and flooding are anticipated, which would create a vicious cycle of climate crisis. Keep reading to learn more…

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The ocean’s thermohaline circulation, a system of various ocean currents and water-mass conveyors, is crucial for distributing heat, salinity, minerals, dissolved gases, and nutrients around the globe, sustaining a habitable planet. In the Atlantic, this circulation, a continuous conveyor-belt of interconnected currents, is known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).