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Effects of Climate Change

Currents Tutorial

The Earth from space.
Global climate change could disrupt the global conveyer belt, causing potentially drastic temperature changes in Europe and even worldwide.

The global conveyor belt is a strong, but easily disrupted process. Research suggests that the conveyor belt may be affected by climate change. If global warming results in increased rainfall in the North Atlantic, and the melting of glaciers and sea ice, the influx of warm freshwater onto the sea surface could block the formation of sea ice, disrupting the sinking of cold, salty water. This sequence of events could slow or even stop the conveyor belt, which could result in potentially drastic temperature changes in Europe.