Will the Gulf Stream really collapse by 2025?

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The Gulf Stream system of warm ocean currents could collapse as early as 2025, a scientific study has warned.

The end of the system, which drives the Atlantic's currents and determines western Europe's weather, would probably lead to lower temperatures and catastrophic climate impacts.

But leading scientists have reservations about the study and say it is not established science.

It is far from certain the system will shut down this century, they say.

The most recent assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that the system, known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (Amoc), would not in fact collapse so quickly.

The latest study's author, Prof Peter Ditlevsen at the University of Copenhagen, told BBC News that other scientists had warned about the potential for collapse of the Amoc.

 

"There's been worries that this current is weakening for as long as we have had measurements of it - since 2004," he said.

The Amoc is a complicated set of currents that bring warm water north towards the pole, where it cools and sinks.

But as global temperatures rise with global warming, fresh water is pouring into the Amoc from the melting Greenland ice cap and other sources.

It if collapses, it could lower temperatures by up to 10 or 15 degrees in Europe and lead to rising sea levels in the eastern US. It would also disrupt rain that billions rely on for agriculture.

The last time Amoc stopped and restarted was during Ice Ages about 115,000 to 12,000 years ago.

 

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[huangnon]

More apocalyptic predictions and crisis management.. The usual naysayers garnering the headlines and budgets. *Yawn*

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6 hours ago, huangnon said:

More apocalyptic predictions and crisis management.. The usual naysayers garnering the headlines and budgets. *Yawn*

Given that anthropogenic climate change denialists are the "usual naysayers", are you claiming that they are garnering the headlines and budgets?