New research has revealed that a new Ice Age could be on the way.
Scientists are warning that the Gulf Stream is on the verge of collapsing an event that could plunge the northern hemisphere into a new ice age later this century.
They predict that the UK could be plunged into a deep freeze with temperatures dropping as low as -30°C if the Gulf Stream collapses.
The say that the AMOC, of which the Gulf Stream is a part, will weaken or collapse under future climate change due to an influx of freshwater. (The AMOC is the large-scale ocean circulation in the Atlantic Ocean that plays a crucial role in regulating the climate by redistributing heat through the ocean.)
The Mail Online reports: The researchers from China and San Diego have uncovered a 'key fingerprint' hidden below the ocean's surface that suggests it has been weakening for decades.
The 'distinctive temperature fingerprint' is at 'mid-depth' - 3,280ft to 6,560ft (1,000-2,000 metres) below the ocean's surface - and it could point to a collapse later this century.
The Gulf Stream is only a small part of a much wider system of currents, officially called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation or AMOC.
Described as 'the conveyor belt of the ocean', it transports warm water near the ocean's surface northwards from the tropics up to the northern hemisphere, keeping Europe, the UK and the US east coast relatively mild.
The engine of this conveyor belt is off the coast of Greenland, where, as more ice melts from climate change, more freshwater flows into the North Atlantic and slows everything down.
Worryingly, if the AMOC does collapse, it could plunge large parts of Europe into a deep freeze.
In fact, scientists have predicted that parts of the UK could drop to as low as -30°C.
Climate scientists generally agree that the AMOC brings enough warmth to the northern hemisphere to keep it relatively mild.
So if it were to slow down or even collapse, large parts of Europe and North America could be plunged into a deep freeze.
Already, climate models have predicted a decline in the AMOC's strength linked to the release of greenhouse gases caused by human activity.
However, 'debate remains on whether and when this circulation has slowed' over the past century, claim the team from Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS), who worked with experts from University of California, San Diego.
For their study, the scientists analysed past observational data, climate models and ocean simulations to track the AMOC 75 years into the future.
They uncovered the 'observationally detectable fingerprint' in the North Atlantic Ocean's mid-depth where temperatures were found to be surprisingly warm - a signal that an AMOC slowdown is in progress.
'Here we identify a distinctive temperature fingerprint in the equatorial Atlantic that signals the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation change,' they say.
'The robust physical mechanism and reliable detection make [this fingerprint] a valuable metric for AMOC monitoring in a warming climate.'