The potential collapse of a key Atlantic ocean current − due to human-caused climate change − is in the news again.
You'd be hard-pressed to come up with a scarier scenario than what's going on now with the "Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)," the fickle Atlantic ocean current whose weakening and eventual collapse could change the climate and weather for hundreds of millions of people.
A pair of new scientific studies detail the present and potential future of the AMOC, which was the ocean current at the center of the fictional (and scientifically inaccurate) "Day After Tomorrow" climate change disaster movie in 2004.
In one study released April 8, scientists at the University of Miami determined that over the past 20 years, the AMOC has already been weakening at four different locations in the Atlantic. In the other study, released April 16, a separate group of European scientists said the AMOC will weaken by 50% by 2100, potentially eventually leading to its "collapse."
A weakening AMOC means the Atlantic Ocean’s climate‑regulating currents slow down over a period of a few decades, while a collapse means the entire current system crosses a tipping point and mostly shuts down − triggering abrupt, potentially irreversible global climate disruptions.
Studies -- https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx4298
68 Comments
IntrovertTurtle@lemmy.zip · 59 pts · 109d
I remember The Day After Tomorrow, it was an okay film but it solidified in me the fear of climate change. The movie may not be scientifically accurate, mainly because they got the temperatures backwards. In the movie, the world froze starting at the poles. IRL, it's going to boil and burn starting from the equator.
HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works · 44 pts · 109d
Iirc that's already started. All the growing zones have moved further north or south from where they used to be when I was a kid (back in the early 60's).
IntrovertTurtle@lemmy.zip · 26 pts · 109d
Oh yeah I've seen it myself. I'd like to move up north to get ahead of it, but there's national lines to get across and taking my pets would be difficult at best.
I've also been noticing that since I was a kid (90s/00s), back then there was a white winter every singe year in my area. Now we're lucky if we get any snow at all during winter.
Then I'll hear some rube say that 'global warming isn't real,' like what bitch?! Have you not been paying attention?!
floofloof@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 99d
Of course not.
floofloof@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 99d
And we didn't used to have just the two seasons, winter and everything on fire.
MBech@feddit.dk · 23 pts · 109d
While that is true. If the Atlantic ocean current stops, the poles will freeze, and start a new ice age in northern Europe and North America, while also boiling the equator.
My_IFAKs___gone@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 109d
igmelonh@feddit.online · 3 pts · 109d
At least northern Asia will be fine
OutForARip@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 107d
Except the warming oceans prevent that.
MBech@feddit.dk · 4 pts · 107d
The oceans won't be warming equally everywhere if there isn't a proper current to tranport the heat around. The oceans will warm a lot by the equator, and freeze around the poles.
JustTesting@lemmy.hogru.ch · 0 pts · 108d
I tiought it was ice age in north europe and heat waves and hurricanes in north america, it carries hot water up north and cold water from the poles down the american east coast.
qevlarr@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 107d
The most frightening climate movie is still "Don't look up"
AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world · 42 pts · 108d
GreenShimada@lemmy.world · 36 pts · 108d
Sorry, but why would we not use the name AMOC and instead call it the "22 year old movie current"?
Grimy@lemmy.world · 29 pts · 108d
What about "Aging Movie is Ominously Current" or AMOC for short?
Monument@piefed.world · 14 pts · 108d
Golf claps
Well done, old chap!
GreenShimada@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 107d
Another Menacing Ocean Con?
HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works · 11 pts · 108d
Probably because most people wouldn't know what that acronym stood for.
njm1314@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 108d
I sure as hell don't
HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 108d
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
ohshit604@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 107d
Rolls right off the tongue.
kunaltyagi@programming.dev · 2 pts · 107d
Just like it does near Greenland
HuudaHarkiten@piefed.social · 5 pts · 108d
So I guess we've just completely given up on how to use acronyms and abbreviations. I've noticed that a increasing amount of people will just use them without explaining it, they just expect others will either already know what it means or will do a search and figure it out. As a non-native English speaker it drives me up the wall. I find my self asking what a acronym/abbreviation means at least once per week, sometimes multiple times a week.
I thought that explaining the acronym on the first use, and then using it as is was the common and courteous way to use them, WTF (what the fuck) happened to that, I do wonder.
LemmyThinkAboutIt@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 108d
As a native English speaker, I concur with your feelings on the matter. I absolutely hate when someone does that and sometimes I won't even bother to finish reading what someone wrote if they just start using acronyms all willy nilly. Hell, you can't even point out spelling errors or grammar errors anymore without upsetting someone.
GreenShimada@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 107d
Sure, but "Atlantic" and/or "Ocean" were right there.
sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 107d
... It needs to have a title that Americans might actually read.
You know, half a football field, approximately 8 hamburgers, instead of actual measurements?
We're on average 5th graders, as far as reading ability goes.
Holytimes@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 107d
Last I saw it was 3rd grade. I would be hyped if it's still at 5th
sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 107d
Down to 3rd grade?
The zombie apocalypse is progressing that rapidly?
j_elgato@leminal.space · 5 pts · 108d
For the clicks.
'Scientist warn that environmental acronym is fucked' is a headline everyone has learned to tune out.
But if maybe Jake Gyllenhaal can save us.. I mean, now you want to know more, right?
GreenShimada@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 107d
I was really more thinking "Wait...what happened in that movie? Shit, when did I even watch that movie? Like 2007?"
j_elgato@leminal.space · 2 pts · 107d
The movie was based loosely on a 'non-fiction' book written by radio host and conspiracy theorist Art Bell.
So basically, that's where we are currently with the state of discourse involving environmental science. We are being warned about something of massive significance and dire consequence by way of a reference to a 20 year old Roland Emmerich movie based on a book written by a loonie...
I'm not real hopeful for our chances as a species..
GreenShimada@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 107d
Oh don't worry, I know all about Art Bell and his book 'The Coming Global Superstorm.'
Still waiting on that "Quickening" he was talking about all those years ago.
Feathercrown@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 108d
I need a filter to eliminate any science article with quotes in the title
kreskin@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 108d
No government is going to do anything about something happening after the year 2100.
NottaLottaOcelot@lemmy.ca · 11 pts · 108d
Exactly! If it doesn’t benefit them publicly before the next election, no government will act.
Holytimes@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 107d
Honestly just once I wish science was wrong and the horrid thing that's going to happen in 100 years happens in 6 months. Not even next year. Six fucking months. Let it kill millions. Let it devestate and destroy entire cities in hours. Let it cause mass problems that ends entire nations.
Maybe THEN fucking people will get together stop being shit and actually fucking start taking shit seriously.
Cause it sure fucking feels like ANYTHING smaller then covid and out further then the next quarter is basically ignored forever.
BananaOnionJuice@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 22 pts · 109d
Remember to duck when the helicopters come tumbling down.
tacoplease@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 108d
If I'm not mistaken, the movie posited that the temperature collapse is happening faster than we think and accelerated to collapse all at the same time.
The estimate is 2100 but that's just an estimate. Reality is that it could happen at any time.
throws_lemy@lemmy.nz · 8 pts · 108d
At the time of the film's release, it offered a new theory about what could happen to Earth's climate in the future. Sure many scientist just laughed to this scenario. The funny thing is that AMOC research started in the same year. All we have is data from 2004 to the present, of course that is not enough to draw conclusions about our future climate.
Earth's climate is complex, studying AMOC alone is not enough. And one of the biggest problem is that there are other MOCs, not just AMOC, any changes to AMOC will impact other MOCs. And there is a new research called the SAMOC Initiative started 5 yr ago.
qevlarr@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 107d
There's nothing scientifically inaccurate about that part IMO. There's positive feedback loops hiding everywhere. The bad things come in bursts. For example, melting ice releases trapped methane, causing higher temperatures and more melting ice. Who knows how fast this goes
FosterMolasses@leminal.space · 11 pts · 108d
whoisearth@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 107d
Compulsory "If you've been paying attention we have known about this and every other catastrophic event since at least the 1970's. We aren't listening to the right people."
Millions if not billions of people are going to be severely at risk and even die. The vast majority of these people will be brown or black. The majority of these people will be children.
We as a species should be ashamed putting the well being of a small few over the majority.
The optimism is we will science our way out of this. Humanity is like a monkeys paw.
So I guess what I'm saying is on the individual level everyone open their eyes don't be a dick and leave the world better than you came into it. Beyond that, sit back and enjoy the show no one really knows what they're doing but the majority of us are doing our best.
MrFinnbean@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 107d
Maybe a little doomer view.
I wanna point that we did listenen the right people after 1970's and we pretty much fixed the ozone hole and mitigated acidic rains. Shame we have decited to stop it for some reason.
Also ironically to your statement AMOC effects most the northern europe and there is problem with small birthrate so in this particular catasrophe most people suffering will be white and children will be minority.
Edit; small edit to make the text harder to misunderstand.
Sirdubdee@piefed.social · 8 pts · 108d
In 2100. That’s more than enough time to reboot Friends at least twice. I’m not worried.
macaw_dean_settle@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 108d
It was shitty the first fucking time. We don't need to make that crap again.
BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today · 8 pts · 108d
It will be better this time. There will be a gay Friend, a lesbian friend, a black friend and an Asian Friend. Maybe make the Lesbian a Hispanic, too, and kill two Friends with one stone.
yakko@feddit.uk · 4 pts · 108d
Just spitballing but... Maybe we could kill all of them with a stone?
innermachine@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 108d
It's the next generations problem, and I ain't breeding so what do I have to worry about 😂😭
Taleya@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 107d
Dogs will still be around and they're gonna suffer
Ditto cats if you're a cat lover.
radiofreebc@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 107d
Malyca@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 108d
Guess I'll bring my parka next time I visit Europe :(
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 108d
Neural_drift@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 107d
Oh whew, the picture only shoes the Atlantic Ocean. I’m safe then.
Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org · 1 pts · 109d
I wonder if it would be possible to set up turbines somewhere to accelerate that current.
My_IFAKs___gone@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 109d
Turbines extract energy from flowing fluids. They'd make it worse, if anything.
FosterMolasses@leminal.space · 2 pts · 108d
Oh, I completely misread this comment. I thought they were pitching we should speed things up and make it worse and get it over with 😂
demonsword@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 108d
the amount of energy involved in the AMOC exceeds the entire output of our civilization, dude
frongt@lemmy.zip · 8 pts · 109d
Powered by what?
teslekova@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 108d
A current we don't like. Or alternatively, whales. Harnessed to the blades.
wavebeam@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 108d
CluckN@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 108d
Better yet Geothermwhales
BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 108d
Oil.
CyroSignal@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 108d
France will fortunately not be affected.
HeroicBillyBishop@lemmy.ca · -11 pts · 108d
Calm down everyone, we will be fine
Sidhean@piefed.social · 2 pts · 108d
/s?
HeroicBillyBishop@lemmy.ca · 0 pts · 107d
?
ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net · -19 pts · 109d
Collapsing this current should be part of EU's climate goals. If we can't stop it, lets accelerate it.
Thorry@feddit.org · 22 pts · 109d
Remember that one time the temperature in Europe dropped by around 1.5 degrees and it lead to mass starvation and migration? Imagine that, but much worse and without it going back to normal after a while.
Even if it would work and Europe is fine, it's still a dick move to do that to the rest of the world. As well as mass migration from hard hit places into Europe leading to an overall bad time for everyone.
But you are kidding right? Right?
ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net · -12 pts · 109d
Fuck em. They can lower their emissions it they want to prevent it. The army will solve mass migration issue.
(of course I'm kidding but I would like to see how Americans would react to this idea)
Malyca@lemmy.zip · 14 pts · 108d
If you're looking for a bottom to American idiocy, you're going to be disappointed. No low is too low and no ignorance is left uncelebrated.
HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 109d