As Europe is hit by the most severe heat wave on record, scientists point the finger at an unlikely accomplice: an area of unusually cold water in the North Atlantic.
The region saw temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with France experiencing the hottest temperatures on record, hundreds of schools in Britain were closed and more than a thousand heat-related deaths were recorded.
In contrast, a few hundred kilometers further west, between Greenland and Ireland, there is a strange blue patch that shows temperatures falling as the rest of the world warms.
Scientists believe that the European heat crisis is exacerbated by the “cold drop”.
Called “cold drop”, this phenomenon could even worsen the heatwave problem in Europe instead of offering a solution.
Scientists explain how melting Greenland ice ends up dumping fresh water into the oceans, interfering with the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a key current that moves warm water from the tropics northward.
According to studies, the blob has cooled by up to 0.9 degrees Celsius since 1900, even as global sea surface temperatures have increased by 1 degree.
Scientists now estimate that there is a 50% chance that an AMOC shutdown will occur this century, which could lead to disastrous consequences such as an even harsher European climate, droughts in Asia and Africa, and rising sea levels.
