/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/41/67/4167f6ba-746f-4a94-9e33-1e7453acff5e/16-008-nasa-2015recordwarmglobalyearsince1880-20160120.png)
publications
As the Ocean Warms, a 'Cold Blob' in the Atlantic Has Puzzled Scientists. It Might Be a Warning Sign About a Key Current System
Key takeaways
- But strangely, a patch of the Atlantic Ocean south of Greenland and Iceland has been trending in the opposite direction.
- While this may sound like good news for our warming planet, the “cold blob” could be a sign of a more concerning pattern with far-reaching effects.
- In a study published on May 28 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, a team of scientists used observations dating back to 1870 to analyze the mysterious phenomenon.
But strangely, a patch of the Atlantic Ocean south of Greenland and Iceland has been trending in the opposite direction.
While this may sound like good news for our warming planet, the “cold blob” could be a sign of a more concerning pattern with far-reaching effects.
In a study published on May 28 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, a team of scientists used observations dating back to 1870 to analyze the mysterious phenomenon. Their findings suggest that the cold blob may have resulted from broader changes taking place throughout a crucial system of currents in the Atlantic Ocean, which could drastically alter the Earth’s climate.
Article preview — originally published by Smithsonian. Full story at the source.
Read full story on Smithsonian →
More top stories
Aggregated and edited by the Scoop newsroom. We surface news from Smithsonian alongside other reporting so you can compare coverage in one place.
Editorial policy · Corrections · About Scoop