Changes in this temperature can influence the behavior of fish, cause the bleaching of corals, and affect weather along the coast. A satellite view of the Gulf Stream from space. The warm water of the Gulf Stream is shown off the coast of Florida in orange and red. Tides and Oceans. The Short Answer:.
How has the arctic sea ice changed over time? Explore past and predicted changes in Arctic sea ice. Log in. Remember me. Register for free Set up your free account to download your favourite resources, take part in our live education broadcasts, and browse latest subject updates and training. Enter your search term:. How does the Gulf Stream affect the British climate?
The currents are already at their slowest point in at least 1, years , but the new analysis shows they may be nearing a shutdown. Such an event would have catastrophic consequences around the world, severely disrupting the rains that billions of people depend on for food in India, South America and West Africa; increasing storms and lowering temperatures in Europe; and pushing up the sea level off eastern North America.
It would also further endanger the Amazon rainforest and Antarctic ice sheets. The complexity of the AMOC system and uncertainty over levels of future global heating make it impossible to forecast the date of any collapse for now.
It could be within a decade or two, or several centuries away. A false-color image shows the warm waters of the Gulf Stream flowing up the U. Image: NASA. The Gulf Stream gets stronger or weaker as part of the natural forces of climate variation.
But under human-induced climate change, the Gulf Stream is predicted to get weaker — it will flow more slowly and carry less water. And there is some evidence, from measurements made over many decades, that it is indeed getting slightly weaker. There was also a paper published recently in Scientific Reports that found that the Gulf Stream is not only weakening, but it might be shifting to the south.
We cannot say for sure that these changes are caused by anthropogenic climate change, but the Gulf Stream does seem to be weakening and changing its course, which is what we might expect from such climate change.
The weakening of the Gulf Stream might be tied to less heat reaching Northwest Europe, and more severe winter weather in that region. Normally, as the Gulf Stream passes Great Britain, reaching the latitudes of Scandinavia and the Greenland and Norwegian Seas, the water cools and becomes denser. Many models show that anthropogenic climate change induces a slowdown of AMOC, due to more precipitation and glacial melt in Norwegian and Greenland Seas.
This addition of freshwater makes the surface water less dense, which makes it less prone to sinking into the deep ocean. If AMOC and the Gulf Stream do become weaker, the probability is that Northwest Europe is going to get cooler, or not warm as much as it otherwise would under global anthropogenic climate change.
As for the U. The other part is of course the melting of glaciers from Greenland and Antarctica, which is by far going to be more and more important. The potential for that sea level rise is tens of meters, whereas the potential for sea level rise from the weakening Gulf Stream is just 10 centimeters.
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