Warming in the Agulhas Current system since the 1980's

Mathieu Rouault (1) , Pierrick Penven (2) , Benjamin Pohl (3)

1 Department of Oceanography [Cape Town]
2 LPO - Laboratoire de physique des océans
3 CRC - Centre de Recherches de Climatologie

Since the 1980's, the sea surface temperature of the Agulhas Current system has increased significantly. The warming is due to an augmentation of its transport in response to an increase in wind stress curl in the South Indian Ocean at relevant latitudes. This causes an increase in the fluxes of salt and heat into the Atlantic Ocean and in the transfer of energy from the ocean to the atmosphere. Therefore, the changes we are witnessing in the region could have far reaching consequences on top of the regional impacts on ecosystem and climate. The increase in wind stress curl is consistent with a poleward shift of westerly wind in the Southern Hemisphere reported by others.

Domaines: Climatologie; Milieux et Changements globaux

Mathieu Rouault, Pierrick Penven, Benjamin Pohl. Warming in the Agulhas Current system since the 1980's. Geophysical Research Letters, 2009, 36, pp.L12602. ⟨10.1029/2009GL037987⟩. ⟨hal-00373622⟩