Key Atlantic Ocean currents that appear to be slowing down due to climate change may be more resilient to global warming than scientists previously thought — thanks to a secret back-up system, a new study shows.
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a web of currents that loops around the Atlantic like a giant conveyor belt. Cold, salty waters sink near Greenland then travel south along the ocean floor. Eventually these waters rise to the surface again near Antarctica and return north, bringing balmier waters to the Northern Hemisphere. This system is crucial to warming Europe, in particular.
