How are the South Yorkshire Mayor and Councils preparing for the UK’s biggest security threat? 

Sheffield City Council declared a Climate Emergency back in 2019. But in those 6 years there has only been slow progress in reducing emissions so we are not on target to reach Net Zero by 2030. Some policies, such as re-opening Doncaster Airport, will dramatically increase emissions.

Yesterday in London, due to the lack of attention to the UK’s No.1 National Security threat (AMOC collapse), an ‘AMOC Bomb’ shaped object was planted outside London City Hall.

Around 30 people, including scientists, demanded that London Assembly Members and the Mayor pay attention to a threat so great it could kill virtually everyone in London.

The threat is just as bad for us here in South Yorkshire, so I will be writing to our Mayor and all four Council leaders to ask how they are preparing to deal with this massive threat to our security. I will publish the replies here.

On 12 July, every London Assembly Member was emailed to inform them of the grave threat of AMOC collapse, warning them that this has the potential to kill most Londoners. They were asked to be ready to prove what they did when alerted to an unprecedented threat to the lives of everyone in London. Only the three Green Party Assembly Members replied. We do not know if other Assembly Members have taken some other form of action to protect Londoners.

They demanded:
• Defuse The AMOC Bomb: The UK government should form an alliance with Ireland and all Scandinavian nations at the COP30 climate negotiations in November 2025. That alliance should warn that our populations will be decimated unless the world dramatically speeds up efforts to decarbonise. Nations should be called upon to reach Net-Zero by 2035, recognising this will entail significant change to the lifestyles of wealthier people.
• The UK government must sack the government minister responsible for the July 2025 England food security strategy for ignoring the unprecedented threat of AMOC collapse.
• The UK government must prepare a strategy to feed the population and begin implementation by January 2026. It may be possible to feed 10 or 20 million people, IF WE START PREPARING NOW!
• The Mayor and London Assembly Members must immediately show what they have done to force the government to implement an emergency programme to feed Londoners in the event of AMOC collapse.

The science: A simple explanation

The AMOC is the ‘Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation’, which brings warm sea water from the Gulf Stream to the UK and Northern Europe. Scientists warn it has weakened by around 15% and it is in danger of collapsing because of climate change. Fresh water is flowing from melting ice on Greenland into the North Atlantic, and this is disrupting the process that drives the Gulf Stream towards the UK
Without the AMOC, the UK climate would be similar to southern Alaska and arable agriculture in the UK would fail.

In November 2024, the National Preparedness Commission published a report on AMOC collapse that warned: “temperatures would drop across the Atlantic region, including by over 5C in Britain. Colder, drier conditions would largely wipe out crop growing in the British Isles.”[1]

In October 2024, the Strategic Climate Risks Initiative warned of a 45% risk of AMOC collapse in the 2040s but warned it could be sooner [2]. In July 2025, a team of scientists studying the Southern Ocean current around Antarctica (SMOC) found alarming changes in the process that drives that ocean current, suggesting the ocean currents can change abruptly, with profound impacts [3].

In October 2024, 44 scientists who are experts in the AMOC issued an open letter to world leaders, warning of the extreme danger of AMOC collapse. They called on nations to decarbonise a lot faster.[4]

On 16 October, The Times Newspaper rightly asked, if AMOC might collapse “Why aren’t we preparing”.[5]


References:
[1]https://nationalpreparednesscommission.uk/publications/blind-spots-on-climate-tipping-points-reveal-complacency-on-climate-change-security-threats/

[2] https://www.scri.org.uk/publications/the-security-blind-spot

[3] https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2500440122

[4] https://en.vedur.is/media/ads_in_header/AMOC-letter_Final.pdf

[5] https://www.thetimes.com/uk/environment/article/amoc-collapse-shutdown-climate-change-times-earth-lps5532hd