{"id":360739,"date":"2026-04-14T15:11:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T09:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=360739"},"modified":"2026-04-14T15:11:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T09:41:32","slug":"atlantic-meridional-overturning-circulation-amoc-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/atlantic-meridional-overturning-circulation-amoc-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>News: <\/strong>As per a new study, the complete collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) could lead to the release of large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, turning it from a carbon sink into a source.<\/p>\n<h2>About Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_341158\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-341158\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-341158\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Source-The-Economist-241x300.png?resize=344%2C428&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)\" width=\"344\" height=\"428\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Source-The-Economist.png?resize=241%2C300&amp;ssl=1 241w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Source-The-Economist.png?w=647&amp;ssl=1 647w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 344px) 100vw, 344px\" \/><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>The AMOC is a\u00a0<strong>system of ocean currents<\/strong>\u00a0that circulates water\u00a0<strong>within the Atlantic Ocean<\/strong>, bringing\u00a0<strong>warm water north and cold water south.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Mechanism:<\/strong>\u00a0The circulation process begins as\u00a0<strong>warm water\u00a0<\/strong>near the surface moves\u00a0<strong>toward the poles<\/strong>\u00a0(such as the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic), where it cools and forms sea ice.\n<ul>\n<li>As this ice forms,\u00a0<strong>salt is left behind<\/strong>\u00a0in the ocean water. Due to the large amount of salt in the water, it becomes\u00a0<strong>denser<\/strong>, sinks down, and is\u00a0<strong>carried southwards<\/strong>\u00a0in the depths below.<\/li>\n<li>Eventually, the water gets\u00a0<strong>pulled back up towards the surface and warms up<\/strong>\u00a0in a process called upwelling,\u00a0<strong>completing the cycle<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Importance of AMOC<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>AMOC aids in\u00a0<strong>distributing heat and energy<\/strong>\u00a0around the earth\u00a0<strong>(heat budget).<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Western Europe\u2019s climate<\/strong>\u00a0is less harsh even in winters because of AMOC (Gulf Stream, North Atlantic Drift).<\/li>\n<li>It acts as a\u00a0<strong>carbon sink<\/strong> by absorbing and storing atmospheric carbon.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Weakening of AMOC<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It takes an estimated <strong>1,000 years for a parcel<\/strong> (any given cubic meter) of water to <strong>complete its journey along the belt.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>However, climate models suggest that the\u00a0<strong>AMOC will weaken<\/strong>\u00a0over the 21st Century as\u00a0<strong>greenhouse gases increase<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>This is because as the <strong>atmosphere warms<\/strong>, the surface <strong>ocean<\/strong> beneath it <strong>retains more of its heat<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Meanwhile <strong>increases in rainfall and ice melt<\/strong> mean it gets <strong>fresher too.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>All these changes make the ocean\u00a0<strong>water lighter<\/strong>\u00a0and so\u00a0<strong>reduce the sinking<\/strong>\u00a0in the \u2018<strong>conveyor belt\u2019<\/strong>, leading to a weaker AMOC.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Consequences of a weakened AMOC<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>A <strong>decrease in marine productivity<\/strong> in the North Atlantic (less sinking will lead to less mixing of water)<\/li>\n<li><strong>More storms<\/strong>\u00a0in Northern Europe<\/li>\n<li><strong>Less<\/strong>\u00a0Sahelian summer <strong>rainfall<\/strong> and\u00a0<strong>South Asian summer rainfall<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>A <strong>reduced<\/strong>\u00a0number of\u00a0<strong>tropical cyclones<\/strong>\u00a0in the Atlantic<\/li>\n<li>An <strong>increase in regional sea level<\/strong> along the northeast coast of North America<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: As per a new study, the complete collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) could lead to the release of large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, turning it from a carbon sink into a source. About Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) The AMOC is a\u00a0system of ocean currents\u00a0that circulates water\u00a0within the Atlantic&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/atlantic-meridional-overturning-circulation-amoc-2\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10393,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,4182,11209,12039],"tags":[11872],"class_list":["post-360739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-environment","category-geography-in-news","category-knolls","tag-9pm-daily-factly","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10393"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360739\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}