LIVE SCIENCE - Researchers have finally answered a longstanding question about a giant patch of cold water in the Atlantic Ocean, blaming a change in ocean currents for the unexpected cooling.
The anomaly, located just south of Greenland, is — perhaps counterintuitively — called the North Atlantic Warming Hole, and it has been stumping scientists for years. Despite the steady warming of ocean waters around the world, this one area got colder by up to 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.3 degrees Celsius) over the past century.
By analyzing ocean temperatures and salinity patterns, scientists linked this mysterious cooling to the slowing of a system of ocean currents called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).
The cold blob has long been a point of disagreement among oceanographers. Some believed that ocean dynamics were responsible, while others suggested atmospheric influences like aerosol pollution were the cause, according to a statement from the University of California, Riverside.