Key ocean water flow, vital in regulating weather, could be on brink of collapse

• News & Highlights

Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, which includes Gulf Stream, shows signs of tipping into instability, researcher says, warning of potential environmental catastrophe

New research has found that a globe-spanning ocean flow that helps regulate temperatures around the world could be on the brink of collapsing into instability, a development that would impact weather from South America to Europe and possibly cause summer showers in Israel.

The study found that over the past 100 years there has been “an almost complete loss of stability” in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, or AMOC, a flow of sea from the south to the north that includes the Gulf Stream.

The AMOC delivers warm water from the tropics to the north and brings cooler, saltier water to the south, distributing heat and energy around the world while also stirring the oceans. Climate scientists, observing a slowdown in the rate of flow, are already worried that the AMOC could pass a critical threshold after which it would sink into instability, with weak circulation halting the necessary flows.