An important goal in climate science is to establish early warning systems - a climate alarm device, one might say - for abrupt changes to the system of sea currents in the Northern Atlantic Ocean. These currents, known as the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) includes the Gulf Stream which transport upper ocean waters northwards in the Atlantic. One question to answer in that line of work, is which metrics should trigger the alarm system? The scientific paper "Fingerprints for early detection of changes in the AMOC" now contributes to the clarification of this important question. In other words, neither is the alarm fully developed, nor does anyone today know exactly which kind of changes to expect, should it go off.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 15, 2020 15:56 UTC