Poor Atlantic circulation is a threat to our weather
BRITAIN’S weather could suffer massive disruption because circulation of the Atlantic Ocean is at its weakest level in 1,600 years, warns research.
Scientists have discovered a key cog in the global ocean circulation system has apparently not been running at peak strength since the mid-1800s.
If the system continues to weaken, researchers say it could disrupt weather patterns from the US and Europe to the African Sahel.
The Global Ocean Conveyor Belt sends warm, salty Gulf Stream water to the North Atlantic where it releases heat and warms western Europe.
The cooler water then sinks to great depths and travels all the way to the Antarctica and eventually circulates back up to the Gulf Stream, according to the study published in the journal Nature.
Dr Delia Oppo, of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the US, said: “This weakening of the Atlantic’s overturning began near the end of the Little Ice Age, a centuries-long cold period that lasted until about 1850.”
Study co-author Dr Jon Robson, of Reading University, says the new findings hint at a gap in current global climate models. He said: “North Atlantic circulation is much more variable than previously thought.”
Meanwhile, Britain’s current weather was having its own mini crisis yesterday with dozens of flood warnings and alerts in place after heavy rain.
Continued wet weather means the flood risk will last for several more days before temperatures soar to 68F (20C) next week.