RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Deep-reaching acceleration of global mean ocean circulation over the past two decades
JF Science Advances
JO Sci Adv
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP eaax7727
DO 10.1126/sciadv.aax7727
VO 6
IS 6
A1 Hu, Shijian
A1 Sprintall, Janet
A1 Guan, Cong
A1 McPhaden, Michael J.
A1 Wang, Fan
A1 Hu, Dunxin
A1 Cai, Wenju
YR 2020
UL http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/6/eaax7727.abstract
AB Ocean circulation redistributes Earth’s energy and water masses and influences global climate. Under historical greenhouse warming, regional ocean currents show diverse tendencies, but whether there is an emerging trend of the global mean ocean circulation system is not yet clear. Here, we show a statistically significant increasing trend in the globally integrated oceanic kinetic energy since the early 1990s, indicating a substantial acceleration of global mean ocean circulation. The increasing trend in kinetic energy is particularly prominent in the global tropical oceans, reaching depths of thousands of meters. The deep-reaching acceleration of the ocean circulation is mainly induced by a planetary intensification of surface winds since the early 1990s. Although possibly influenced by wind changes associated with the onset of a negative Pacific decadal oscillation since the late 1990s, the recent acceleration is far larger than that associated with natural variability, suggesting that it is principally part of a long-term trend.