Scientists Map Out Climate's Strangest Twist Yet

Picture this: while half the world is baked under relentless heat, London freezes harder than it has in centuries. Oslo becomes uninhabitable for months at a time. The Netherlands watches sea ice creep toward its shores for the first time in modern history.

René van Westen and his Utrecht University colleagues just finished modeling what happens when one of Earth's most important ocean systems shuts down. Their findings don't match anyone's expectations about global warming.

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation doesn't get much press coverage despite moving more water than all the world's rivers combined. Climate change is breaking the system. Melting ice sheets flood the North Atlantic with fresh water, disrupting the density differences that keep AMOC running. Several research teams think the current could collapse entirely within decades.

When Two Unstoppable Forces Collide

Van Westen wanted to answer a question that's been nagging climate scientists: what happens when AMOC's cooling effect meets continued global warming? Does heat win? Does cold win? Or does something weirder happen?