The ocean currents are changing, with major implications for climate around the world. Yet our new article published in Nature Sustainability suggests most governments are not preparing for this possibility. Of 91 national adaptation plans submitted to the U.N. climate convention, only two even mention that key Atlantic current, and neither sets out concrete action in response to its possible collapse.
Warm salty water flows north in the Gulf Stream, and then sinks when it cools in the North Atlantic (because saltier water is denser). Once it sinks, it flows back south along the bottom of the ocean.
Cold fresh water entering the North Atlantic due to ice melt from Greenland disrupts that process. The faster Greenland’s ice cap melts, the slower the current gets.
If it stops entirely, heat stops getting transported by the Gulf Stream and northwestern Europe (especially Britain) starts looking more like Alaska.