Iceland has declared the potential collapse of a key Atlantic Ocean current system a national security threat, warning that its failure could destabilize weather, food, and energy systems vital to the nation’s survival.

Climate Minister Johann Pall Johannsson told Reuters that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, has been formally presented to Iceland’s National Security Council as a potential existential risk — the first time a climate-related phenomenon has received such a classification.

“It is a direct threat to our national resilience and security,” Johannsson said in an email to Reuters.

The AMOC — a network of ocean currents that carries warm water from the tropics northward toward the Arctic — helps regulate global climate and keeps Europe’s winters relatively mild. But as the planet warms and Arctic ice melts, large volumes of cold freshwater from Greenland’s ice sheet are flowing into the North Atlantic, threatening to weaken or halt the current.

Scientists warn that a collapse could unleash drastic climate shifts — plunging Northern Europe into bitter cold, disrupting global rainfall patterns, and intensifying heat in other parts of the world. The AMOC has collapsed before, most notably before the end of the last Ice Age about 12,000 years ago.

By elevating the issue to national security status, Iceland’s ministries will coordinate a whole-of-government response. The government is developing new research, resilience measures, and a disaster preparedness policy to mitigate impacts on food supply, energy systems, infrastructure, and transportation, Johannsson said.

The consequences of an AMOC shutdown could ripple across continents, disrupting agriculture in Africa, India, and South America, and accelerating Antarctic ice melt.

Experts caution that the world may be underestimating the urgency of the threat, warning that the AMOC could reach a tipping point within decades if global temperatures continue to rise.

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