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

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adz7738#sec-3

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[–] 59 points 5 months ago (11 children)

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.

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  • [–] [S] 44 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    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).

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  • [–] 26 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    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?!

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  • [–] 23 points 5 months ago (5 children)

    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.

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  • [–] 42 points 5 months ago
    [–] 36 points 5 months ago (19 children)

    Sorry, but why would we not use the name AMOC and instead call it the "22 year old movie current"?

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  • [–] [S] 11 points 5 months ago (7 children)

    Probably because most people wouldn't know what that acronym stood for.

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  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago (3 children)
  • [+] 5 points 5 months ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 child)
  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago

    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.

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    [–] 24 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    No government is going to do anything about something happening after the year 2100.

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    [–] 22 points 5 months ago

    Remember to duck when the helicopters come tumbling down.

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  • [–] 18 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    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.

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  • [–] 8 points 5 months ago*

    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.

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago*

    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

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  • [–] 11 points 5 months ago (2 children)
  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    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.

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago*

    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.

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  • [–] 8 points 5 months ago (5 children)

    In 2100. That’s more than enough time to reboot Friends at least twice. I’m not worried.

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  • [–] 7 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    It was shitty the first fucking time. We don't need to make that crap again.

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  • [+] 6 points 5 months ago
    [–] 3 points 5 months ago

    Guess I'll bring my parka next time I visit Europe :(

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