Reducing air pollution could push the Gulf Stream towards a COLLAPSE

"Researchers found that measures aimed at cutting sulphur dioxide and black carbon emissions are weakening the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). This is a vast network of global ocean currents, of which the Gulf Stream is just one part, that is critical for keeping the climate stable. If AMOC were to collapse, studies have shown that temperatures in Northern Europe would plummet - plunging the UK into a 'new Ice Age'."

"Researchers found that cutting back air pollution will cause this key current to weaken by about six per cent by 2050. That is on top of the weakening already being caused by human-caused climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. However, co-author Professor Laura Wilcox, a climate scientist from the University of Reading, told the Daily Mail: 'While reducing air pollution weakens AMOC, the effect of continued increases in greenhouse gases is larger.'"

"AMOC functions like an enormous ocean conveyor belt, carrying heat, carbon, and nutrients around the world. The engine driving this system is the formation of very cold, dense salty water in the Arctic. As this water cools and sinks to the bottom of the ocean, it pulls in more warm water from the Atlantic after it and ensures that the whole network keeps moving. That process has been keeping global ocean currents relatively stable for around the last 6,000 years, but human activity is now pushing AMOC to the edge of collapse."

"As the climate warms, melting glaciers in the Greenland ice sheet are dumping millions of tonnes of fresh water into the oceans every year. That is diluting the salty water around the poles, making it less dense and weakening AMOC. Since this process is being driven by human-caused climate change, it might seem count"

Measures that reduce sulphur dioxide and black carbon emissions can weaken the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). AMOC is a global system of ocean currents that helps keep climate conditions stable, including the Gulf Stream. If AMOC collapses, temperatures in Northern Europe could drop sharply, potentially plunging the UK into conditions described as a new Ice Age. Researchers estimate that cutting air pollution could weaken AMOC by about six percent by 2050. This weakening adds to ongoing stress from greenhouse gas–driven climate change. AMOC is powered by cold, dense, salty water formation in the Arctic, which sinks and draws in warmer Atlantic water. Warming melts Greenland ice and adds fresh water, diluting salty polar waters and reducing density, further weakening AMOC.

Read at Mail Online