@newscientist: Will the Gulf Stream collapse and what will happen if it does? The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is the flow of warm, salty surface water from the tropics to north-western Europe, where it cools and sinks, returning south along the ocean floor. The part of this circulation running from the Gulf of Mexico up the US east coast to North Carolina, where it veers east into the Atlantic, is called the Gulf Stream. The AMOC is expected to lose strength as the melting of the Greenland ice sheet dumps fresh water into the north Atlantic, diluting the dense, salty AMOC water and slowing the rate at which it sinks and flows southward. Some research suggests that this is already happening, but scientists don’t have direct proof. Tap the link in our bio to find out more.