Despite a year of record-breaking temperatures, there is one region of the globe, in the North Atlantic Ocean just south of Greenland, where the temperature remains below average.
This phenomenon is being called the "Atlantic Blob," is structurally similar to its Pacific Blob counterpart, which is instead experiencing abnormally high temperatures, feeding the El Niño cycle that is currently under way there. The Atlantic blob is believed to be caused by the flow of cold water from melting glaciers in Greenland, the melt of which is being exacerbated by above-average temperatures.
Unfortunately, this influx of fresh meltwater is expected to further slow down the circulation of the North Atlantic current: typically, as the north-east bound current reaches the coast of Europe, it cools and sinks, and follows deep-water currents back south. However, the fresh water making it’s way into the North Atlantic is more buoyant than salt water, which prevents it from sinking back into the deeper currents.
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