Fact Check: Viral post about Atlantic cooling misinterpret climate change reality
An Instagram post claims that a temperature drop in the Atlantic Ocean disproves climate change, using a screenshot
An Instagram post claims that a temperature drop in the Atlantic Ocean disproves climate change, using a screenshot from The New Scientist article titled, “The Atlantic is cooling at record speed and nobody knows why.” Similar posts are in circulation on social media.
Click here to view the claim.
Fact Check:
The claim is misleading.
We reviewed the New Scientist article published on August 19, 2024, cited in the viral posts claiming climate change is a “lie.” The article discusses a temporary cooling in certain parts of the Atlantic Ocean, known as “Atlantic Niña,” but it does not deny climate change. NOAA's data indicates that, after record-high global sea temperatures, the equatorial Atlantic is now cooling rapidly, which could affect global weather patterns.
Understanding Atlantic Niña
This cooling occurs just before the anticipated La Niña in the Pacific, where both oceans might cool at the same time, impacting worldwide weather. These events can alter atmospheric conditions, affecting things like cyclones, rainfall, and temperatures in various regions. For example, La Niña often increases hurricane activity in the Atlantic while decreasing it in the Pacific, and Atlantic Niña might change wind patterns, impacting weather in areas like West Africa and South America.
Weather Implications
This cooling pattern can lead to extreme weather, such as increased drought in areas like the southern United States and heightened flooding in regions like Southeast Asia and Australia. Scientists are monitoring these patterns closely for potential effects on global weather.
What is Atlantic Niña?
Atlantic Niña is the cold phase of a natural climate cycle similar to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation in the Pacific. This cycle switches between warm and cold phases every few years, affecting weather patterns in the Atlantic region. Typically, the Atlantic has warm waters in spring and cooler temperatures in the summer.
Record Temperatures
Michael McPhaden, an oceanographer at NOAA, stated that the cooling in the Atlantic does not contradict the fact that July 2024 was Earth’s hottest month on record due to rising greenhouse gases. Research shows that average global sea surface temperatures were at record highs in 2024.
Expert Opinion
Frankz Philip Tuchen, a researcher at the University of Miami, explained that while the Atlantic is experiencing temporary cooling, global warming is driven by human emissions, leading to long-term warming of ocean temperatures. Below is his comment: “This part of the Atlantic is following a distinct seasonal cycle with the warmest temperatures observed during March-April (28-29°C) and coldest temperatures during July-August (24.5-25°C). So there is always some natural cooling between April and July. However, this year, temperatures in March-April were higher than usual and temperatures in July-August were colder than usual. These warm and cold swings can happen every few years (just like El Niños and La Niñas in the Pacific) and are something that we call natural or internal variability of the climate system. Global warming, however, is an external forcing process driven by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. You can think of global warming as a long-term relatively steady increase of ocean temperatures, while the equatorial Atlantic cooling event in this summer is only a short-term event. Usually these events last around 3 months.
Conclusion
The social media posts misinterpret the New Scientist report, which does not claim that the entire Atlantic is cooling or deny climate change. Instead, it supports the ongoing long-term warming trend of the Earth’s climate.