The Gulf Stream may collapse

The Gulf Stream
"The risk of a collapse is greater than many people think - take it seriously"
48 researchers in open letter: It is a climate disaster for the Nordics

Christina Nordh

Updated 10.51 | Published 10.47

The AMOC, which includes the Gulf Stream, can be disrupted by meltwater as the Earth's temperature rises. Photo: TT

The risk of the Gulf Stream collapsing is greater than many people think.

- It is remarkable that political leaders in Scandinavia do not take this seriously, says Professor Johan Rockström to Dagens Nyheter.

In the ocean off the southern tip of Greenland is "the cold blob" – one of the few places on Earth that hasn't warmed in recent decades. Instead, it has become much cooler, something that can be explained by the fact that gigantic amounts of meltwater from the ice in the area have flowed into the sea. On average, this is about 8,600 tons of ice every second, which is equivalent to about seven billion bathtubs a day.

Can disrupt systems

The meltwater now risks disrupting one of the three major circulation systems in the world's oceans, AMOC, which includes the Gulf Stream, writes TT.

Professor Johan Rockström. Photo: Aftonbladet

Rubba's AMOC could mean that the Gulf Stream collapses, with possible catastrophic climate consequences for Sweden and the other Nordic countries.

- Such a scenario could mean a climate disaster for Sweden, write 48 researchers in an open letter to the Nordic governments before the Nordic Council of Ministers in Nordic Council of Ministers in Reykjavik, which starts on Monday.

"Can't rule out collapse"

- It determines whether we can have modern welfare states in the Nordics at all. If there is research that says we cannot rule out a collapse, even within the next 100 years, everything should be done to avoid it happening, says Johan Rockström, one of the co-authors, to DN.
Rockström is director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research in Germany and a professor at Stockholm University. He says the likelihood of a Gulf Stream collapse in the coming decades is still low – but it's risky to talk about the likelihood alone.