Gulf Stream Slows to its Weakest in a Thousand Years
The Gulf Stream ocean current that brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico to Europe is slowing down in an unprecedented way
By Joe Morgan & Study Finds Image: NOAA
Since the 1950s, the current has slowed by about 15 percent. Experts warn that by 2100, the Gulf Stream System will weaken further by 34 to 45 percent, becoming dangerously close to the tipping point at which the flow becomes unstable.
If this happens, the U.S. east coast will face dangerously rising sea levels.
And Western Europe would also be plunged into a deep freeze in winters with brutal ice storms and the average temperature dropping by 10 degrees Celsius.
Summers would be scorching hot, warn scientists.
The study is published in Nature Geoscience.