Will the Atlantic Ocean Current System Collapse in 10 Years? Dutch Research Team Warns of Climate Catastrophe

Research Team at Utrecht University, Netherlands
"Melting Greenland Ice Disrupts Ocean Current System"
Global Average Surface Temperature Hits Record High

As signs of climate change appear worldwide, a chilling warning has emerged that the Atlantic Ocean current system, which greatly influences the climate, could collapse as early as the late 2030s. On the 5th, Yonhap News cited a report from the US CNN on the 2nd (local time), stating that "a recent study by a research team at Utrecht University in the Netherlands announced that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), one of the deep ocean circulation systems, could collapse between 2037 and 2064."

On the afternoon of the 1st, when heatwave warnings were issued in most regions nationwide, a forecaster at the Seoul Metropolitan Weather Administration in Gwonseon-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, explained the status of the heatwave warnings and temperatures.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the report, the AMOC acts like a conveyor belt, flowing warm surface water from the Southern Hemisphere and the tropics to the cold North Atlantic. In this process, colder and saltier North Atlantic water sinks and flows southward. In other words, when the AMOC operates smoothly, it prevents the Southern Hemisphere from becoming extremely hot or the Northern Hemisphere from becoming extremely cold.

However, recent climate change has caused Greenland's ice to melt, releasing a massive amount of freshwater into the North Atlantic, which is disrupting the AMOC. The researchers warned, "If the AMOC collapses, it could cause a massive shock to the global climate." Lenner van Westen, a marine and atmospheric researcher at Utrecht University and co-author of the study, told CNN, "All side effects of climate change such as heatwaves, droughts, and floods will continue worldwide. If the AMOC collapses as well, the climate could become even more distorted."

If the AMOC collapses, Arctic ice is expected to reach the southern coast of England within 100 years. Additionally, there is an analysis that the Amazon rainforest could experience a complete seasonal reversal, with the current dry season becoming the wet season. Stefan Rahmstorf, a physical oceanographer at Potsdam University in Germany, told CNN, "We must do everything to avoid the collapse of the AMOC." However, the researchers believe it is more likely that the AMOC will not collapse before 2050. The results of this study have not yet been published in a related journal.

Due to the impact of climate change, the average temperature of the Earth's surface worldwide has consecutively set new records. According to the Washington Post (WP) on the 28th of last month, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the European Union's climate monitoring agency, announced that "on the 21st of last month, the global average surface temperature reached 17.15 degrees Celsius." This is the highest figure since C3S began climate observations in 1940.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.