Key Facts

• The Argo float, a robotic probe roughly the size of a person, is part of a global network collecting data to help scientists understand how ocean currents shape Earth's climate, measuring temperature, salinity, and pressure as it drifts with the currents.
• The AMOC carries about one petawatt of heat northwards, roughly 50 times the total energy humanity uses, and its weakening could lead to more extreme swings in the UK's weather, including colder winters, even as average global temperatures continue to rise.
• Researchers point to recent studies suggesting the circulation may be less stable than previously thought, with some warning signs already visible, including a strange patch of cooling in the North Atlantic and changes in how salty the water is.
• A severe weakening or collapse of the AMOC could bring colder, drier winters to the UK and north-west Europe, while also affecting rainfall and temperature patterns far beyond Europe, including the West African monsoon, tropical rainfall belts, and rainfall over the Amazon.
• A study led by University College London found that nearly 13,000 years ago, the Atlantic circulation abruptly changed, leading to a sudden reversal in warming, with Britain and parts of northern Europe experiencing colder, more hostile conditions for over a thousand years.