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What caused the significant increase in Atlantic Ocean heat content since the mid‐20th century?
Author(s) -
Lee SangKi,
Park Wonsun,
van Sebille Erik,
Baringer Molly O.,
Wang Chunzai,
Enfield David B.,
Yeager Stephen G.,
Kirtman Ben P.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2011gl048856
Subject(s) - ocean heat content , ocean gyre , oceanography , thermohaline circulation , north atlantic deep water , ocean dynamics , climatology , sea surface temperature , antarctic bottom water , ocean current , effects of global warming on oceans , geology , environmental science , subtropical indian ocean dipole , oceanic basin , indian ocean , global warming , structural basin , climate change , subtropics , fishery , biology , paleontology
As the upper layer of the world ocean warms gradually during the 20th century, the inter‐ocean heat transport from the Indian to Atlantic basin should be enhanced, and the Atlantic Ocean should therefore gain extra heat due to the increased upper ocean temperature of the inflow via the Agulhas leakage. Consistent with this hypothesis, instrumental records indicate that the Atlantic Ocean has warmed substantially more than any other ocean basin since the mid‐20th century. A surface‐forced global ocean‐ice coupled model is used to test this hypothesis and to find that the observed warming trend of the Atlantic Ocean since the 1950s is largely due to an increase in the inter‐ocean heat transport from the Indian Ocean. Further analysis reveals that the increased inter‐ocean heat transport is not only caused by the increased upper ocean temperature of the inflow but also, and more strongly, by the increased Agulhas Current leakage, which is augmented by the strengthening of the wind stress curl over the South Atlantic and Indian subtropical gyre.