The ominous sign the Gulf Stream is nearing COLLAPSE

"One of the ocean's saltiest regions has become 30 per cent less salty - sparking fears the Gulf Stream could be inching closer to a catastrophic collapse. The southern Indian Ocean off the southwest coast of Australia has historically been very salty, thanks to the dry conditions in the area. But a new study has revealed that over the past 60 years, the area of salty seawater has decreased by 30 per cent."

"This difference in salinity creates a giant 'conveyer belt' of ocean circulation, distributing heat, salt, and freshwater around Earth. This system, dubbed the 'thermohaline circulation', transports warm, fresh water from the Indo-Pacific toward the Atlantic Ocean, contributing to the mild climate in western Europe. When it reaches the northern Atlantic Ocean, the water cools, and becomes saltier and denser. Eventually, the water sinks, before flowing southward back to the Indian and Pacific oceans, where the system starts again."

"They predict the changes could alter the interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere. In addition, the decrease in salinity could disrupt major ocean circulation systems that help regulate climates around the world. 'We're seeing a large-scale shift of how freshwater moves through the ocean,' said Professor Weiqing Han, lead author of the study. 'It's happening in a region that plays a key role in global ocean circulation.'"

The southern Indian Ocean off southwest Australia has lost about 30 percent of its historically high-salinity seawater over the past 60 years, shrinking the salty region substantially. The salinity decline can change ocean-atmosphere interactions and threaten major circulation systems that redistribute heat, salt, and freshwater globally. The thermohaline circulation carries warm, fresh Indo-Pacific water to the Atlantic, where cooling and increased salinity drive sinking and return flows. Weakening salinity contrasts could impair this conveyor-like circulation, undermining climate regulation functions such as western Europe's mild climate and increasing risk to the AMOC.

Read at Mail Online