Atlantic Blob Stumps Scientists - Here's Why!

Why is a spot in the North Atlantic Ocean a brilliant blue against a sea of red?

In a recent graphic churned out by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), it appears that a solitary area in the world is unusually cooler than the rest - an odd phenomenon considering the first 8 months of this year "were the hottest such stretch yet recorded for the globe's surface land and oceans, based on temperature records going back to 1880," according to The Washington Post.

"In the North Atlantic Ocean south of Greenland and Iceland, the ocean surface has seen very cold temperatures for the past eight months," the publication said, adding that the data is not erroneous.

"For the grid boxes in darkest blue, they had their coldest Jan-Aug on record, and in order for a grid box to be 'eligible' for that map, it needs at least 80 years of Jan-Aug values on the record," NOAA's Deke Arndt confirmed to the news source.

With this fact considered and confirmed, the next question will naturally be why there's such an area, now called the "Atlantic blob," in a currently hot world.

"Scientists believe it is the melting of ice in Greenland that is causing the cold anomaly," CNN reported.

"Normally, cold salt water in the North Atlantic sinks, because it is denser, and it is replaced by warm water moving in from the south," the news outlet explained. "It's a similar process that drives the high and low pressure systems and Jetstream that drive our weather."

"In this case, the study suggests that the massive amounts of freshwater melting into the ocean from Greenland can prevent the sinking of the dense, cold, salty water and alter the AMOC circulation."

The AMOC is the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, which "brings warm, tropical surface water northward along the East Coast of the U.S. and funnels towards the poles." Its other current, a return flow, brings deep, cold water south to the tropical areas from the poles.

The Atlantic blob, scientists analyze, is reportedly a sign that the AMOC is slowing down - a scenario that has been featured in the movie "The Day After Tomorrow." However, events seen in the film may not likely be the same ones happening right now, although the ocean circulation slowdown could affect weather patterns significantly.

Researchers are still trying to learn more about this phenomenon and are still closely observing the area, as the said weather system is "vast and complicated." This is especially when there also are "human-caused factors" that need to be considered.

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