The mystery of the anomalous "cold spot" in the Atlantic has been revealed

American climatologists from the University of California, Riverside have discovered why an area of anomalously cold water has persisted south of Greenland for more than 100 years, despite the general warming of the Atlantic. The study is published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.

The specialists cite the weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) - a key system of ocean currents known as the "ocean conveyor belt" - as the main cause. This system is responsible for transporting warm water northward and cold water southward.

Analysis of data over the past 100 years showed: the weaker the AMOC becomes, the more pronounced the cold anomaly off the coast of Greenland becomes. "Our calculations show that only models with a weakened AMOC can accurately reproduce the cooling in this area," explained study author Wei Liu.

Scientists warn that the consequences of such changes affect not only the North Atlantic. The slowdown in oceanic circulation can influence the climate of Europe and North America - from precipitation amounts to the direction of atmospheric flows. Additionally, marine ecosystems suffer due to changes in water temperature and salinity.

The authors also point out the shortcomings of many climate models: by focusing on the atmosphere, they did not take into account the influence of ocean currents, which is why they could not predict the observed cooling.