The ocean system no one has heard of that could destabilise Europe

It is called Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation or AMOC. A dull acronym for something without which Europe would stop looking like Europe. If the AMOC stops, Europe will experience ice-age like winters.

This key ocean system, which regulates the global climate, could “shut down” as early as the middle of this century. The consequences would be drastic: a sharp cooling of Europe, chaotic weather and the breakdown of agriculture. Scientists have been talking about the problem for years, but a new study suggests that a collapse is much more likely than previously assumed. “I am increasingly concerned that we might cross a tipping point beyond which the shutdown of the AMOC will become inevitable, and that this could happen in the middle of this century, which is already quite close,” oceanographer Stefan Rahmstorf from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said to the British daily The Guardian. An ensuing comment piece by columnist and environmental activist George Monbiot also caused a stir. He argued that politicians, billionaires and fossil-fuel companies were deliberately downplaying the risks because they do not fit into their economic models or short-term profits. “One of the symptoms of the pathology known as ‘billionaire brain’ is the inability to see beyond one’s own short-term gain. They would loot the planet for a few more rocks on a needless mountain of wealth. And we can see that happening,” he said. The AMOC works like a gigantic ocean conveyor belt. It transports heat from the tropics to the North Atlantic and helps maintain the relatively mild climate on which agriculture, water supply and the functioning of states depend. Without it, temperatures, rainfall and weather in Europe and elsewhere in the world would look completely different.

Key points

• This key ocean system, which regulates the global climate, could “shut down” as early as the middle of this century.
• The consequences would be drastic: a sharp cooling of Europe, chaotic weather and the breakdown of agriculture.
• Scientists have been talking about the problem for years, but a new study suggests that a collapse is much more likely than previously assumed.
• “I am increasingly concerned that we might cross a tipping point beyond which the shutdown of the AMOC will become inevitable, and that this could happen in the middle of this century, which is alr…
• An ensuing comment piece by columnist and environmental activist George Monbiot also caused a stir.