They believe this was caused by a sudden change in the Atlantic Gulf Stream - a phenomenon many experts fear is about to happen again.

科学家们认为造成这一温度骤降的原因是墨西哥暖流造成的，而且专辑们认为这一现象至今仍可能发生。

youdao

Long after its frothing tumble down the east side of Logan Pass, this water will stream into the Gulf of Mexico, and eventually join the Atlantic Ocean.

在罗根隘口东面澎湃而下之后，这条水路一直流到墨西哥湾，最终汇入大西洋。

youdao

One of these "rivers" in the Atlantic is called the Gulf Stream.

大西洋其中有一条“河流”被命名为墨西哥湾流。

youdao

There are theories suggesting that the AMO index is in turn driven by fluctuations in the north Atlantic current commonly called the Gulf Stream.

BBC: Global warming 'confirmed' by independent study

The author of that work, Glen MacDonald of UCLA, has noted that the only way to get that region so warm is with a massive influx of Gulf Stream water from the Atlantic.

FORBES: Global Warming: Hotheads, Flatliners and Lukewarmers, Part One

The cause of this cold lurch was seemingly settled some time ago when Wallace Broecker, a Columbia University geochemist, suggested that a North American ice sheet collapsed, flooding the Atlantic with fresh water, which interrupted the normal circulation of the Gulf Stream.

WSJ: Matt Ridley on New Support for a Global-Cooling Theory | Mind & Matter