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The system of ocean currents that is responsible for maintaining temperate weather worldwide is in danger of collapsing. Experts say the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) could collapse within the next 50 years. AMOC brings heat from Caribbean waters to the northern Atlantic Ocean between Greenland and Britain. Oceanographers say AMOC has been slowing down for the past few decades because of global warming. The northern Atlantic is the only region in the world that has cooled in the past 20 years. Experts once believed there was a 10 per cent chance of AMOC crossing the tipping point this century. However, 44 experts publicly stated that is now a 50/50 possibility.
Meteorologists believe AMOC could fail in the next few decades. They said this would lead to "devastating and irreversible impacts which will affect the entire world for centuries to come". It would disrupt global weather patterns and adversely affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people. The scientists predict that winter temperatures in the U.K. could become 15°C lower. Colder weather could "potentially threaten the viability of agriculture in northwestern Europe". The collapse of AMOC could shift tropical monsoons southwards, causing widespread drought and famine. This will create huge increases in the numbers of climate refugees and escalate geopolitical tensions.
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