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One of the world’s largest ocean circulation systems may not be as stable as today’s weather models predict, according to a new study. In fact, changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) — the same deep-water ocean current featured in the movie “The Day After Tomorrow” — could occur quite abruptly, in geologic terms, the study says. The research appears in the Jan. 4 online edition of the journal Science Advances.

Australian and Japanese scientists found the current using measuring devices anchored to the ocean floor about 4,200 kilometres south-west of Perth. Dr Steve Rintoul from the CSIRO in Hobart says the current is flowing about three kilometres below the surface and carries 40 times as much water as the Amazon River. "It's a larger part of the deep ocean current system than we expected," he said.

Thousands of rubber ducks to land on British shores after 15 year journeyBy BEN CLERKIN - More by this author »Last updated at 22:00pm on 27th June 2007 Comments (9)They were toys destined only to bob up and down in nothing bigger than a child's bath - but so far they have floated halfway around the world. The armada of 29,000 plastic yellow ducks, blue turtles and green frogs broke free from a cargo ship 15 years ago. Since then they have travelled 17,000 miles, floating over the site where the Titanic sank, landing in Hawaii and even spending years...