While some scientists continue to warn about global warming, others predict serious cooling in the northern hemisphere of the Earth, linking this with a possible stop of the Gulf Stream.

Experts warn that within a few years, melting glaciers could lead to a shutdown of the Gulf Stream, a system of currents that brings heat to the northern hemisphere, which could cause average temperatures to drop several degrees.

According to experts, this could lead to negative consequences for North America, as well as for some regions of Europe and Asia, while temperatures in the equatorial regions and in the southern hemisphere are likely to rise.

According to the Daily Mail, scientists from Utrecht University in the Netherlands have concluded that a cessation of currents in the Atlantic Ocean could occur in the coming years, possibly as early as next year, although other researchers are more cautious in their predictions.

The Gulf Stream is part of a larger system of currents known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC. This oceanic “conveyor belt” moves warm water from south to north, from the tropics to the northern hemisphere. When this water reaches the North Atlantic Ocean, it cools, freezes and releases salt, making it denser and causing it to sink to the bottom, where it begins to flow south.

Then upwelling occurs, a process in which water rises to the surface again, completing the cycle. The AMOC brings so much heat to the northern hemisphere that it helps prevent much of Europe from freezing.

Recent studies have shown that AMOC is slowing due to climate change. Melting ice off the coast of Greenland is introducing large volumes of fresh water into the North Atlantic, slowing down processes. Scientists fear that the end of AMOC could happen in the coming decades, not centuries, as previously thought.

Forecasts show that average temperatures in Europe could drop by 1°C within a decade, and in some regions by as much as 3°C. This will lead to cooling in the northern hemisphere and, conversely, increasing temperatures in the southern hemisphere, which could cause serious damage to the Amazon rainforest and cause water and food shortages on other continents.

Researchers from the University of Exeter have concluded that by 2080, average temperatures in most regions of the Earth’s northern hemisphere will decrease by 3.4°C compared to 2023.