CNN: The slowing down of ocean currents could have a devastating effect on our climate. Well, new research reveals Earth’s major ocean currents are slowing down, and though the consequences will not be as immediate or dramatic as in the Hollywood fiction, there are real-world impacts for global weather patterns and sea levels. The slowdown of ocean circulation is directly caused by warming global temperatures and has been predicted by climate scientists. “This has been predicted, basically, for decades that this circulation would weaken in response to global warming. And now we have the strongest evidence that this is already happening,” said Stefan Rahmstorf of Potsdam University who contributed to this research.
CNN: Gulf Stream system at its weakest in 1,600 years, study shows. Research recently published in science journal Nature by the University College London (UCL) and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has found that the circulation of water in the Atlantic has been declining since the 1800s.