Chicago — As I write this piece, the temperature in Chicago is 90°F. Around the world, the hottest temperatures reach up to 122°F — only 12 degrees below the highest weather temperature ever recorded.
Safe to say, it’s hot. Extremely hot.
We had our hottest June ever recorded. Then, July 6 was our hottest day. Now, it’s looking like 2023 will replace 2016 as our hottest year in history. And these records will only keep beating themselves if we continue this path.
But we are continuing this path, thanks to global warming and how we enable it.
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, is an aquatic conveyer belt that transports warm water from the tropics to the North Atlantic and then sends cold water back south. It’s a system that scientists consider a tipping point: once it changes, it can have massive consequences for the rest of Earth and its climate.
And unfortunately, it is changing. Because of global warming, and these new record temperatures, Arctic ice is melting and messing up the AMOC system. It could shut it down completely. And when it shuts down, it won’t be reversible.
This guest post is in partnership with True Star Media.