Temperature Records and Chemical “Tracers” Show Deep Ocean Warming As Climate Changes

The subtropical North Atlantic ocean. Credit score: Marie-Jose Messias

A lot of the “extra warmth” saved within the subtropical North Atlantic is within the deep ocean (beneath 700 meters / 2300 toes), new analysis suggests.

Oceans have absorbed about 90% of the warming brought on by people. The brand new research discovered that within the subtropical North Atlantic (25°N), 62% of the warming from 1850-2018 is held within the deep ocean.

The researchers – from the College of Exeter and the College of Brest – estimate that the deep ocean will heat by an additional 0.2°C (0.36°F) within the subsequent 50 years.

Ocean warming can have a spread of penalties together with sea-level rise, altering ecosystems, currents and chemistry, and deoxygenation.

“As our planet warms, it’s very important to know how the surplus warmth taken up by the ocean is redistributed within the ocean inside all the best way from the floor to the underside, and you will need to take into consideration the deep ocean to evaluate the expansion of Earth’s ‘vitality imbalance’,” mentioned Dr. Marie-José Messias, from the College of Exeter.

“In addition to discovering that the deep ocean is holding a lot of this extra warmth, our analysis exhibits how ocean currents redistribute warmth to totally different areas.

“We discovered that this redistribution was a key driver of warming within the North Atlantic.”

The researchers studied the system of currents generally known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).

AMOC works like a conveyer belt, carrying heat water from the tropics north – the place colder, dense water sinks into the deep ocean and spreads slowly south.

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The findings spotlight the significance of warming transferring by AMOC from one area to a different.

Dr. Messias mentioned extra warmth from the Southern Hemisphere oceans is turning into necessary within the North Atlantic – now accounting for a few quarter of extra warmth.

The research used temperature information and chemical “tracers” – compounds whose make-up can be utilized to find previous adjustments within the ocean.

Reference: “The redistribution of anthropogenic extra warmth is a key driver of warming within the North Atlantic” 17 Might 2022, Communications Earth & Setting.
DOI: 10.1038/s43247-022-00443-4