Professor Laurie Monville

And they sink to a depth of about 1,500, 2,000 meters.

And then they flow southward in the Atlantic Basin and into the Southern Ocean.

And then there they can mix with other water masses

and spread into the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean at depths again.

Water all around the ocean, if you wish, are connected, are interconnected.

And what happens in the North Atlantic doesn't stay in the North Atlantic.

It has impact all around.

We know that over the last 20 years, the AMOC has weakened.

Now, the issue we have with the AMOC is that we don't have many direct observations.

So the direct observation of this system of current, if you wish, started in 2004.

So we only have about 22 years.

So I think there's no question as to whether the AMOC has declined over the last 20 years.

But the issue is, is this decline part of the natural climate viability or is it part of a longer term decline?

And so the scientific community is quite split on it at the moment.

Some think that the AMOC has been declining since the 1960s.

And some think what we are observing is just part of the natural climate viability.

So global warming is the answer.

So waters now become warmer.

So if they are warmer, they are less dense.

Then there's also the issue of sea ice melting.