Could ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ Happen? Scientists Offer Chilly Warning

The vast ocean currents which circulate warm water around the Atlantic abruptly stop - stopping the Gulf Stream and leading to the entire world cooling down.

It’s not inconceivable - the currents have slowed 15-20% in the past 100 years, and are slowing at their fastest rate in a millennia, according to research published in March.

In the Hollywood film The Day After Tomorrow, the even leads to a sudden, new ice age, chilling the planet and killing thousands.

But while stopping the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) would chill the planet, it would be a lot less dramatic than the Hollywood version, scientists say..

Professor Sybren Drijfhout from the University of Southampton simulated what would happen, and found that while temperatures WOULD drop they would only do so for 20 years.

Professor Sybren Drijfhout said, 'The planet Earth recovers from the AMOC collapse in about 40 years when global warming continues at present-day rates.

'But near the eastern boundary of the North Atlantic (including the British Isles) it takes more than a century before temperature is back to normal.'