The potential collapse of a key Atlantic ocean current − due to human-caused climate change − is in the news again.

You’d be hard-pressed to come up with a scarier scenario than what’s going on now with the “Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC),” the fickle Atlantic ocean current whose weakening and eventual collapse could change the climate and weather for hundreds of millions of people.

A pair of new scientific studies detail the present and potential future of the AMOC, which was the ocean current at the center of the fictional (and scientifically inaccurate) “Day After Tomorrow” climate change disaster movie in 2004.

In one study released April 8, scientists at the University of Miami determined that over the past 20 years, the AMOC has already been weakening at four different locations in the Atlantic. In the other study, released April 16, a separate group of European scientists said the AMOC will weaken by 50% by 2100, potentially eventually leading to its “collapse.”

A weakening AMOC means the Atlantic Ocean’s climate‑regulating currents slow down over a period of a few decades, while a collapse means the entire current system crosses a tipping point and mostly shuts down − triggering abrupt, potentially irreversible global climate disruptions.

Studies – https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx4298

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adz7738#sec-3

  • GreenShimada@lemmy.world
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    17 hours ago

    Sorry, but why would we not use the name AMOC and instead call it the “22 year old movie current”?

    • Grimy@lemmy.world
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      14 hours ago

      What about “Aging Movie is Ominously Current” or AMOC for short?

      • HuudaHarkiten@piefed.social
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        5 hours ago

        So I guess we’ve just completely given up on how to use acronyms and abbreviations. I’ve noticed that a increasing amount of people will just use them without explaining it, they just expect others will either already know what it means or will do a search and figure it out. As a non-native English speaker it drives me up the wall. I find my self asking what a acronym/abbreviation means at least once per week, sometimes multiple times a week.

        I thought that explaining the acronym on the first use, and then using it as is was the common and courteous way to use them, WTF (what the fuck) happened to that, I do wonder.

        • LemmyThinkAboutIt@lemmy.zip
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          4 hours ago

          As a native English speaker, I concur with your feelings on the matter. I absolutely hate when someone does that and sometimes I won’t even bother to finish reading what someone wrote if they just start using acronyms all willy nilly. Hell, you can’t even point out spelling errors or grammar errors anymore without upsetting someone.