Scientists are sounding the alarm that a crucial component of the planet’s climate system is in gradual decline and could one day reach a tipping point that would radically alter global weather patterns.
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, is a system of ocean currents that circulate water in the Atlantic Ocean like a conveyor belt, helping to redistribute heat and regulate global and regional climates. New research, however, warns that the AMOC is weakening under a warming climate, and could potentially suffer a dangerous and abrupt collapse with worldwide consequences.
“This is bad news for the climate system and humanity,” researchers from Utrecht University’s Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research wrote in a new study published in the journal Science Advances.
Every major country’s highest CO2 emitting years are in the past. Renewable energy is far cheaper than most fossil fuels. Renewables will become the majority energy supplier for the planet next year. We won’t stop at 1.5C, but that was just a milestone for a climate agreement. We’re no longer looking at >4C, and we’re closing in on avoiding >3C.
Don’t get me wrong, shit’s going to get tough, but we’re not doomed, not yet.