USA TODAY - Scientists have linked an unusual "cold blob" in the North Atlantic — one eerily similar to the one featured in the film "The Day After Tomorrow," that has a major impact on global weather.
While the findings weren't that extreme, a recent study showed the area has cooled by up to 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) over the past few decades. Researchers at the University of California believe this is due to changes to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a complex network of ocean currents.
"The region to the south of Greenland is highly sensitive to AMOC change, where the surface cooling due to an AMOC slowdown may exceed background greenhouse gas warming," said Wei Liu, a climate scientist at the University of California, Riverside, who led the study.