The Gulf Stream carries warm water flowing from the tip of Florida across the Atlantic towards Europe and is responsible for much of the UK’s average temperatures
Temperatures in the UK could plummet quicker than first feared as scientists confirm the Gulf Stream is weakening faster than originally believed.
Scientists from the University of California are warning that the weather system – crucial to bringing warmer air to the UK – has been weakening for more than 100 years and could soon collapse altogether. The Gulf Stream carries warm water flowing from the tip of Florida across the Atlantic towards Europe and is responsible for much of the UK’s average temperatures.
Officially called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), it has been described as the conveyor belt of the ocean and without it, the mercury across the continent would drop with the UK alone falling by at least 10C and many fear it could get much colder than that too.
The latest findings show the trend is unlikely to let up, before the AMOC collapses altogether. Lead author, Professor Wei Liu, said: “This work shows the AMOC has been weakening for more than a century. That trend is likely to continue if greenhouse gases keep rising.”
The study, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, links a bizarre 1,000-mile wide patch of cold water south of Greenland and Iceland, that really shouldn’t be there, to the long-term weakening of the AMOC. Unlike the water around it, this area of cold water has resisted global warming for more than a century.
Prof Liu, who has studied 100 years of data, added: “‘People have been asking why this cold spot exists; we found the most likely answer is a weakening AMOC.”
He added that the study strengthens future climate forecasts, especially those concerning Europe, where the influence of the AMOC is most pronounced and warned that a total collapse of the system could be severe.
Last week, another team of scientists, reported temperatures could plunge to -30°C in Scotland if the AMOC collapsed, with Edinburgh spending nearly half of the year with a minimum temperature of below zero. London would also experience cold extremes of -19°C in a worst case scenario.
No timeframe has been given for when a total collapse of the AMOC might occur.