A new study has identified a large cooling zone in the North Atlantic Ocean, south of Greenland and Iceland, known as the 'cold blob' or 'warming hole'. While global ocean temperatures are rising, this region has cooled by about one degree Celsius since 1900. Researchers now confirm that the phenomenon signals a weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a vital ocean current system that transports warm water northward and cold water southward.

The study, led by Professor Stefan Rahmstorf of Germany’s Potsdam University, combined satellite data, ocean instruments, and climate models to show that the cooling extends deep below the ocean surface, beyond the influence of atmospheric factors. Other studies indicate that AMOC is now at its weakest in a thousand years. Scientists warn that human-driven global warming and melting ice are disrupting the delicate balance of heat and salinity that sustains the current.

If AMOC collapses, researchers caution it could trigger severe global consequences, including rising sea levels along the U.S. East Coast, extreme cold in Europe, and prolonged droughts in Africa.