Five times stronger than the Gulf Stream and 100 times larger than the Amazon River, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is by far the world's largest ocean current. But this key system is grinding to a halt, a new study has warned. Analysing core samples, scientists from the University of Bonn have found that the ACC has undergone a major slowdown. In fact, the ocean current is now running three times slower than it was 130,000 years ago. Worryingly, if it continues, this dramatic slowdown could have disastrous consequences.
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