Wei Liu

The Atlantic's major circulation current is showing worrying signs, but is collapse near?

tomwt — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 17:21:12 +0000

The Atlantic's major circulation current is showing worrying signs, but is collapse near? tomwt Thu, 07/03/2025 - 10:21 More CNAS in the Media Tom Hale | IFLScience July 03, 2025

IFLSCIENCE - Something’s stirring in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) – and a strange “hole” of cold water in the North Atlantic may provide new clues about what’s up. But is the system on the brink of full-blown collapse, or will it keep churning on despite mounting pressure?

The AMOC is “the conveyor belt of the ocean”, a sea-spanning system of currents that transports warm water from the tropics northwards into the North Atlantic.

It plays a key role in pushing heat and freshwater around the Atlantic via a network of deep and near-surface ocean currents. The system works by transferring warm and salty surface water from the tropics through the North Atlantic. When it approaches the North Pole, it cools and forms sea ice. The remaining water then sinks and is carried southwards in the depths below, completing the cycle.

By bringing warmer water towards the North Pole, it helps to bring warmer weather conditions in Northwest Europe and the North Atlantic. Without the AMOC, these parts of the Northern Hemisphere would be significantly chillier.

In recent years, scientists have suggested that the AMOC is weakening due to changes in water entering the system. The prime drivers of this, shifts in rainfall and Greenland Ice Sheet melt, are both associated with human-driven climate change.

It’s becoming increasingly evident that the slowdown of the AMOC may already be starting to impact our world. New research by the University of California, Riverside, has affirmed the theory that an unusual “hole” of cold water in the North Atlantic near Greenland is the result of the AMOC slowing down.

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Wei Liu

Scientists shed light on the mysterious 'cold blob' in the North Atlantic amid a search for its cause

tomwt — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 17:11:52 +0000

Scientists shed light on the mysterious 'cold blob' in the North Atlantic amid a search for its cause tomwt Thu, 07/03/2025 - 10:11 More CNAS in the Media Sara Hashemi | Smithsonian Magazine July 03, 2025

SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE - Just south of Greenland, in the northern Atlantic Ocean, a strange area of water has been confounding scientists for years. While the rest of the ocean warms, that patch has been mysteriously cooling. Researchers have offered different theories behind this “cold blob,” such as changes in ocean circulation patterns or aerosol pollution in the atmosphere.

Now, two recent studies are shedding more light on the phenomenon, adding to existing evidence that the slowdown of a key ocean current system is producing the cool region.

The cold blob—also known as a warming “hole”—can be spotted on maps of Earth’s changing surface temperature, appearing as a blue dot of cooling in a sea of red heat. As the water around it warms, the blob’s temperature has been steadily dropping by up to 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), looked at 20 years of observations of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a system of ocean currents that circulate in the Atlantic Ocean. Then, they used 100 years of temperature and salinity data to reconstruct the ocean dynamics from before official records began. They published their work in the journal Communications Earth & Environment in May.

“People have been asking why this cold spot exists,” co-lead author Wei Liu, a climate scientist at UCR, says in a statement. “We found the most likely answer is a weakening AMOC.”

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Wei Liu

A Mysterious Blob of Cold Water Defies Ocean Heat – Now We Know Why

tomwt — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 14:42:51 +0000

A Mysterious Blob of Cold Water Defies Ocean Heat – Now We Know Why tomwt Mon, 06/30/2025 - 07:42 More CNAS in the Media Tessa Koumoundouros | Science Alert June 30, 2025

SCIENCE ALERT - Over the last decade, Earth's oceans have been warming at unprecedented rates, yet one mysterious blob of water, just south of Greenland, has defied this trend. It has stubbornly remained colder than its surrounding waters for over a century now.

"People have been asking why this cold spot exists," says University of California Riverside climate scientist Wei Liu.

To find out, Liu and oceanographer Kai-Yuan Li analyzed a century's worth of temperature and salinity data. They found this mysterious cool patch wasn't limited to the ocean surface, but extended 3,000 meters (around 9,840 feet) deep. And only one scenario they explored could explain both sets of data.

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Wei Liu

Mystery behind cold blob in the Atlantic Ocean finally solved

tomwt — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 22:22:26 +0000

Mystery behind cold blob in the Atlantic Ocean finally solved tomwt Thu, 06/26/2025 - 15:22 More CNAS in the Media Perri Thaler | Live Science June 26, 2025

LIVE SCIENCE - Researchers have finally answered a longstanding question about a giant patch of cold water in the Atlantic Ocean, blaming a change in ocean currents for the unexpected cooling.

The anomaly, located just south of Greenland, is — perhaps counterintuitively — called the North Atlantic Warming Hole, and it has been stumping scientists for years. Despite the steady warming of ocean waters around the world, this one area got colder by up to 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.3 degrees Celsius) over the past century.

By analyzing ocean temperatures and salinity patterns, scientists linked this mysterious cooling to the slowing of a system of ocean currents called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).

The cold blob has long been a point of disagreement among oceanographers. Some believed that ocean dynamics were responsible, while others suggested atmospheric influences like aerosol pollution were the cause, according to a statement from the University of California, Riverside.

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Wei Liu

The Gulf Stream is on the verge of COLLAPSING, scientists warn

tomwt — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 15:49:07 +0000

The Gulf Stream is on the verge of COLLAPSING, scientists warn tomwt Mon, 06/23/2025 - 08:49 More CNAS in the Media Jonathan Chadwick | DailyMail.com June 23, 2025

THE DAILY MAIL - Scientists from the University of California, Riverside, have warned that the Gulf Stream has been weakening for more than 100 years - and could soon collapse altogether.

The Gulf Stream is only a small part of a much wider system of currents, officially called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).

Described as 'the conveyor belt of the ocean', AMOC transports warm, salty water near the ocean's surface northwards from the tropics up to the northern hemisphere.

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Wei Liu

Scientists warn the Gulf Stream is on the verge of collapse with apocalyptic consequences

tomwt — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 15:39:36 +0000

Scientists warn the Gulf Stream is on the verge of collapse with apocalyptic consequences tomwt Mon, 06/23/2025 - 08:39 More CNAS in the Media Anish Vij | LAD Bible June 23, 2025

LAD BIBLE - Scientists have warned that the Gulf Stream could collapse altogether, having weakened significantly over the past 100 years.

Without it, you've got the possibility of rising sea levels, climate change, and unliveable temperatures.

What is the Gulf Stream?
The Gulf Stream is often described as the world's 'conveyor belt' as it transports warm, salty water to the north and releases heat to western Europe, across the Atlantic, and circulates back south.

It's part of a much wider system of currents, referred to as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).

If the Gulf Stream collapses, however, you've potentially got all sorts of problems.

Why is the Gulf Stream collapsing?
Researchers from the University of California, Riverside, have concluded that the AMOC 'has been weakening for more than a century'.

Because greenhouse gases continue to rise, 'that trend is likely to continue', according to Professor Wei Liu, an author of the study.

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Wei Liu

Scientists are trying to explain a mysterious ‘cold spot’ south of Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean

tomwt — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 15:28:30 +0000

Scientists are trying to explain a mysterious ‘cold spot’ south of Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean tomwt Mon, 06/23/2025 - 08:28 More CNAS in the Media Christopher Plain | The Debrief June 23, 2025

THE DEBRIEF - University of California-Riverside (UCR) scientists studying a massive, mysterious cold spot south of Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean have determined the most likely cause is the slowing of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which delivers warmer, saltier waters from the tropical latitudes to northern latitudes.

“People have been asking why this cold spot exists,” said UCR climate scientist Wei Liu, who led the study with doctoral student Kai-Yuan Li. “We found the most likely answer is a weakening AMOC.”

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Wei Liu

Cold spot discovered in the Atlantic Ocean could signal big trouble for global climate

tomwt — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 14:39:15 +0000

Cold spot discovered in the Atlantic Ocean could signal big trouble for global climate tomwt Mon, 06/23/2025 - 07:39 More CNAS in the Media Sanjana Gajbhiye | Earth.com June 23, 2025

EARTH.COM - For over 100 years, the North Atlantic has hosted an anomaly. South of Greenland lies a patch of cool ocean water. This region, called the North Atlantic Warming Hole (NAWH), defies global warming.

Scientists long debated its cause. A new study now shows that the weakening of a vital ocean current – the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) – explains it best.

“People have been asking why this cold spot exists,” said climate scientist Wei Liu. “We found the most likely answer is a weakening AMOC.”

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Wei Liu

Ice Melting Could Slow Vital Ocean Current - Which Could Slightly Slow Melting

tomwt — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 23:23:54 +0000

Ice Melting Could Slow Vital Ocean Current - Which Could Slightly Slow Melting tomwt Thu, 10/31/2024 - 16:23 More CNAS in the Media Stephen Luntz | IFLScience October 28, 2024

IFLSCIENCE - Complementary studies by separate teams have explored the interactions between melting ice in the North Atlantic and the flow of a crucial ocean current. One intensifies the alarm many oceanographers have already expressed: that more rapid melting will cause a crucial part of the Gulf Stream system to slow or even stop, with disastrous consequences. The other reveals that if that happens, one of the few beneficial effects will be a decrease in the Arctic melting that caused the problem – but probably not enough.

...

University of California Riverside graduate student Yu-Chi Lee is part of a team that has tried. They calculate that a slowing AMOC could keep Arctic temperatures 2° C (3.6° F) cooler than they would be in 2100 if AMOC maintained current flow. That sounds encouraging – until you realize that under their calculations the region warms by a shocking 8° C (14.4° F) instead of a catastrophic 10° C (18° F).

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Wei Liu

The Arctic is melting fast, but a slowing ocean current could help

tomwt — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 17:45:26 +0000

The Arctic is melting fast, but a slowing ocean current could help tomwt Wed, 10/30/2024 - 10:45 More CNAS in the Media Sanjana Gajbhiye | Earth.com October 26, 2024

EARTH.COM - Under the unforgiving Arctic sun, the wintry landscape swarms with shivers and whispers that tell tales of an unrelenting rise in temperatures. This icy expanse, our last bastion of frost, is experiencing a warming spree that outpaces the global average by three to four times.

But here’s a twist: new research suggests that the slow-down of a crucial ocean current could ironically, cool the rising heat in the Arctic. Could this be the solution we’ve been waiting for?

Slowing ocean current in the Arctic
For decades, scientists have sounded alarms on the consequences of unchecked Arctic warming. They warn of severe implications for wildlife, massive shifts in weather patterns, and more frequent extreme events.

Is there any respite? According to a study spearheaded by UC Riverside, there just might be.

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Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences

Wei Liu