The flow of warm water through the Florida Straits has slowed by 4% over the past four decades, with grave implications for the world's climate.
Related: Gulf Stream current could collapse in 2025, plunging Earth into climate chaos: 'We were actually bewildered' Beginning in Caribbean before flowing out into the Atlantic through the Florida Straits, the Gulf Stream brings warmer southerly waters northward to cool and sink in the North Atlantic. After dropping deep beneath the ocean and releasing its heat into the atmosphere, the water slowly drifts southward, where it heats up again and the cycle repeats.