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Abstract:
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC)— one of Earth’s major ocean circulation systems— redistributes heat on our planet and has a major impact on climate. Here, we compare a variety of published proxy records to reconstruct the evolution of the AMOC since about 400 AD. Taken together these data presents a fairly consistent picture of the AMOC: After a long and relatively stable period follows an initial decline in the AMOC starting in the 19th Century, with a second, more rapid, decline following in the mid-20th Century. Taken together, these data suggest that, during the last decades, the AMOC has been at its weakest state for over a millennium.