October 2025 Climate Change Message

Today I have some information from Woods Hole Oceanic Institution. It may seem surprising, but the climate change/warming we have been experiencing may be leading us into a new ice age. This is how it can happen.
The Gulf Stream, the current which circulates in the north Atlantic Ocean, carries warm, salty surface water from the tropics to the north along eastern North America and then across the Atlantic to the United Kingdom and northwestern Europe. As it cools, some of the cold water returns southward along North America, and some of that dense water sinks deep into the ocean before flowing southward. This plunge is what propels the Gulf Stream’s flow. The Gulf Stream can be thought of as the “great ocean conveyor”.
The Gulf Stream and associated currents heat the atmosphere and land along the way north, and allow strawberries to thrive along the Norwegian coast, while at comparable latitudes in Greenland glaciers wind down to sea level. This permits palms to flourish in Cornwall and the Hebrides, while across the ocean in Labrador, even temperate vegetation struggles to survive. Without the Gulf Stream, temperatures in the UK and north-west Europe would be five degrees centigrade or so cooler, with bitter winters at least as fierce as those of the so-called Little Ice Age in the 17th to 19th centuries.
The Gulf Stream has already slowed 20% since 1950. This weakening has been predicted by climate models as a consequence of global warming. This was expected because of large-scale melting of Arctic ice and pouring of huge volumes of fresh water into the North Atlantic. The North Atlantic is becoming less saline over time. This is a problem because fresh water is not as dense and does not sink as easily as saltwater, causing the current to slow. Bill McKibben, a well-known expert in climate change has observed that 50% of the arctic sea ice has melted in just his lifetime, corresponding with many of our lifetimes, as well.
The volume of fresh water being introduced into the North Atlantic slows the flow of the currents. Return of cold water to the south must occur, or warm water cannot flow northward. The disruption of the Gulf Stream was predicted to happen very slowly, but the whole process may already be happening. Temperatures are already falling in parts of north-west Europe, and there is evidence that there could be an abrupt drop in average winter temperatures of about 5 degrees F. over much of the US, and 10 degrees F. in the Northeast.
One of the scariest aspects of all this is that the deep southward current connects with the worldwide system of currents, and we don’t know just how its disruption may affect other currents around the world. It could bring dramatic climate changes to the entire planet.
Sandy McKitrick, Climate Care Team