Previous assessments have suggested a collapse is unlikely this century. Other researchers caution that the timeline of such a collapse - or even whether the AMOC will collapse at all - remains unclear, given the sheer complexity of understanding an ocean system that stretches thousands of miles. 'It's a worrisome result,' says Peter Ditlevsen, professor of climate physics at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and an author of the study. Now, a new study finds the collapse of the current, which is known as the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, or AMOC, could happen far sooner than scientists have previously thought, possibly within a few decades, as a result of human-caused global warming. Researchers have been trying to determine when the Atlantic might cross that tipping point. Scientists say there's a risk this vital current could shut down as the climate gets hotter, a collapse that could have dire consequences worldwide.

Its role in the Earth's climate is so powerful that it determines weather from the equator to Europe, crop production in Africa and sea level rise on the East Coast.

Deep in the Atlantic Ocean, there's a massive current the size of 8,000 Mississippi Rivers.

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