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  Will the Gulf Stream really shut down?   BY ALISON PEARCE STEVENS | NOVEMBER 9, 2023   Recent news headlines suggest the Gulf Stream current could shut down in just a few years — or perhaps a few decades — bringing about a catastrophic change in global climate. Will the Gulf Stream actually shut down? No, say oceanographers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.   Why do headlines say otherwise? It’s due to an oversimplification of the currents that drive global climate. People conflate the Gulf Stream with a more complex system of currents known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC.   “The Gulf Stream plays a role in the AMOC, but it is also distinct from the AMOC,” explains WHOI physical oceanographer Robert Todd. It’s one arm of a multi-tiered system that circulates water horizontally and vertically throughout the Atlantic Ocean. The Gulf Stream flows along the east coast of North America, carrying warm water fro...

  What’s happening with AMOC? Scientists discuss the state of the Atlantic Ocean’s ‘conveyor belt’ Recent  article  in  Nature Communications  warns of a forthcoming collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), with a transition most likely to occur between 2025-2095.  Other scientists , though, say it is questionable whether a collapse could occur this century. However, if a collapse were to happen to the AMOC, there could be global ramifications, including abrupt cooling across large parts of the northern hemisphere, changes in tropical rainfall, and non-linear changes in sea-level rise in the North Atlantic Ocean. The AMOC is a complex system of ocean currents that distribute heat throughout the Atlantic by transporting warmer waters north and cooler waters south. In this way, the AMOC, which is part of a global “conveyor belt,” helps regulate Earth’s climate; and through its impact on climate, the AMOC affects patterns of drought,...