A team of climate scientists in Germany and China has found evidence, using a climate model, that in the coming years, freshwater inputs to the Irminger Sea Basin will have the biggest impact on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Their paper is published in the journal Science Advances.

The shutdown of this circulation has been associated with past abrupt climate changes e.g., as evident in paleoclimate records, such as playing crucial role in driving glacial-interglacial transitions.

Furthermore, the AMOC slowdown induces a southward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), substantially affecting precipitation in the tropical Atlantic and global monsoon regions.