Running Amoc

The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) – delivers heat from the tropics to the North Atlantic – I used to know it as the Gulf Stream, and know that it is responsible for tempering the effects of winter in much of Northern Europe.

If Amoc were to shut down, it would mean that there would be a massive drop in winter temperatures here. While I suppose that the silver lining might be that the Elfstedentocht could resume, that would count as nothing beside the existential crisis that would be provoked in societies at large. It has the potential to be a civilisation-ending event.

George Monbiot spells it out for us.

We should be preparing to man the lifeboats – but, whoops, there are no lifeboats for planet Earth, and contrary to Musk’s delusions, there won’t be any cities on Mars either.