Scientists are sounding the alarm that a crucial component of the planet’s climate system is in gradual decline and could one day reach a tipping point that would radically alter global weather patterns.

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, is a system of ocean currents that circulate water in the Atlantic Ocean like a conveyor belt, helping to redistribute heat and regulate global and regional climates. New research, however, warns that the AMOC is weakening under a warming climate, and could potentially suffer a dangerous and abrupt collapse with worldwide consequences.

“This is bad news for the climate system and humanity,” researchers from Utrecht University’s Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research wrote in a new study published in the journal Science Advances.

  • BestBouclettes@jlai.lu
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    8 months ago

    That’s a problematic way to think about it though. We can still get away with it, it’s gonna be bad and loads of people will die and the world will be fucked, but it will be nothing compared to what might happen if we give up and let capitalists steamroll us.
    Being apathetic leads to inaction and that’s the opposite of what’s needed right now. Even if it feels small and pointless, it’s still something that can lead to a better future by composite effect (single snowflake in the avalanche kind of thing).

    • Aniki 🌱🌿@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      BTW friendly reminder that by the time this is posted and the time you read it we’ll be releasing even more CO2 than any moment in history before. Not only have we not done a fucking thing about climate change, the rate we create CO2 has only increased.

    • Aniki 🌱🌿@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      Oh? And what has changed so far? Because I’ve been holding onto hope my whole life and nothing. has. changed…

      what’s more dangerous? Apathy or fraud? Because your thinking is just fraud.

      • BestBouclettes@jlai.lu
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        8 months ago

        Plenty of things have changed, as with everything, it’s gradual.
        Obviously we need a big bang in how the world works but that’s not gonna happen anytime soon.
        Most CO2 emissions are growing less fast than they used to, renewables are on the rise, electrification is rising as well, nuclear power is also on the rise both on generation and new construction.
        People have slowly realised that there is actually something wrong with the climate in the last decades.
        It’s very slow, too slow and it’s gonna get tough but we’re getting there.
        I’m not sure to understand how me thinking, that action and progress, as slow as they are, is a fraud.

      • chuckleslord@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Every major country’s highest CO2 emitting years are in the past. Renewable energy is far cheaper than most fossil fuels. Renewables will become the majority energy supplier for the planet next year. We won’t stop at 1.5C, but that was just a milestone for a climate agreement. We’re no longer looking at >4C, and we’re closing in on avoiding >3C.

        Don’t get me wrong, shit’s going to get tough, but we’re not doomed, not yet.

      • Chee_Koala@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Energy generation is about to experience a renewable tipping point, so our source of energy has changed a bit! It’s something :-). I’ve stopped hoping that people will change, now I’m just waiting for the “fuck you got mine” generation to die and leave us alone. The outcome is the same, but I’m less bothered by it all.