Increase in Agulhas leakage due to poleward shift of Southern Hemisphere westerlies

A. Biastoch (), C. W. Böning, F. U. Schwarzkopf and J. R. E. Lutjeharms
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A. Biastoch: Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105 Kiel, Germany
C. W. Böning: Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105 Kiel, Germany
F. U. Schwarzkopf: Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105 Kiel, Germany
J. R. E. Lutjeharms: University of Cape Town

Nature, 2009, vol. 462, issue 7272, 495-498

Abstract: Clash of currents The possibility of future decline in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is central to discussions of climate change. Attention focuses on the effects of freshening of the subpolar North Atlantic, for example via increases in high-latitude precipitation and melting ice. A new high-resolution ocean model study shows that the North Atlantic is already experiencing an opposite effect from the south. In response to a southward shift of the westerly winds — probably anthropogenically influenced — the transport of warm and salty Indian Ocean waters around the tip of Africa is strengthening. Known as the Agulhas leakage, this flow may offset possible reductions in Atlantic deep-water circulation from freshwater inputs in the North Atlantic, possibly contributing to the stability of the AMOC system, including the Gulf Stream.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature08519

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