Underneath the surface of the ocean there are some important things happening that most human eyes never see. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is a system of ocean currents, ones that move warm, salty water northward and it might soon fail.
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00:00Underneath the surface of the ocean, there are some important things happening that most
00:07human eyes never see. The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation is a system of ocean
00:12currents, ones that move warm, salty water northward. That water cools as it moves and
00:17becomes more dense, forcing it towards the bottom of the ocean, thus cycling other water up towards
00:22the surface. It's a crucial oceanic process, and now scientists say that they have more evidence
00:27that the whole thing is breaking down. The main problem lies with global warming, with polar
00:32regions and glaciers melting at unprecedented rates. This is causing an influx of freshwater into
00:38our planet's salty oceans, which then messes with the process of that cold, salty water sinking to
00:43the bottom of the ocean and cycling water around. Experts say we're near what they call a tipping
00:48point, or when the slowdown of the currents at the southernmost areas of the Atlantic will become
00:52stagnated to a critical point. That becomes a problem because the Atlantic meridional overturning
00:57circulation doesn't just affect the ocean, it regulates climates globally. This will change
01:02seasonal monsoons and temperatures all over the planet, forcing a chain reaction on such
01:07a drastic scale, its effects on ecosystems cannot even be predicted.