College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences

IFLSCIENCE - Something’s stirring in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) – and a strange “hole” of cold water in the North Atlantic may provide new clues about what’s up. But is the system on the brink of full-blown collapse, or will it keep churning on despite mounting pressure? The AMOC is “the conveyor belt...

SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE - Just south of Greenland, in the northern Atlantic Ocean, a strange area of water has been confounding scientists for years. While the rest of the ocean warms, that patch has been mysteriously cooling. Researchers have offered different theories behind this “cold blob,” such as changes in ocean circulation patterns or aerosol pollution...

GIZMODO - After relying on an educated guess for decades, scientists have finally confirmed the dipole moment of aluminum monochloride (AlCl), an elusive but important molecule known to sneak around the interiors of ancient galaxies. An electric dipole moment is a measure of polarity—a crucial determinant for many physical properties of any system, such as...

SCIENCE ALERT - Over the last decade, Earth's oceans have been warming at unprecedented rates, yet one mysterious blob of water, just south of Greenland, has defied this trend. It has stubbornly remained colder than its surrounding waters for over a century now. "People have been asking why this cold spot exists," says University of...

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...

THE DAILY MAIL - Scientists from the University of California, Riverside, have warned that the Gulf Stream has been weakening for more than 100 years - and could soon collapse altogether. The Gulf Stream is only a small part of a much wider system of currents, officially called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Described...

LAD BIBLE - Scientists have warned that the Gulf Stream could collapse altogether, having weakened significantly over the past 100 years. Without it, you've got the possibility of rising sea levels, climate change, and unliveable temperatures. What is the Gulf Stream? The Gulf Stream is often described as the world's 'conveyor belt' as it transports...

THE DEBRIEF - University of California-Riverside (UCR) scientists studying a massive, mysterious cold spot south of Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean have determined the most likely cause is the slowing of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which delivers warmer, saltier waters from the tropical latitudes to northern latitudes. “People have been asking why this...

EARTH.COM - For over 100 years, the North Atlantic has hosted an anomaly. South of Greenland lies a patch of cool ocean water. This region, called the North Atlantic Warming Hole (NAWH), defies global warming. Scientists long debated its cause. A new study now shows that the weakening of a vital ocean current – the...

THE WASHINGTON POST - Completely reforesting Earth might help cool the planet more than expected but still not enough to offset the warming that has occurred since industrial times, a recent analysis finds. The scientists modeled what might happen if humans reached the planet’s reforestation potential, adding about 4.6 million square miles of trees and...