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The small scales of the ocean may hold the key to surprises

Sharp fronts and eddies that are ubiquitous in the world ocean, as well as features such as shelf seas and under-ice-shelf cavities, are not captured in climate projections. Such small-scale processes can play a key role in how the large-scale ocean and cryosphere evolve under climate change, posing a challenge to climate models.

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Fig. 1: Surface currents at a range of model resolutions.
Fig. 2: The evolution of global ocean model resolution by publication year.

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Correspondence to Helene Hewitt.

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Hewitt, H., Fox-Kemper, B., Pearson, B. et al. The small scales of the ocean may hold the key to surprises. Nat. Clim. Chang. 12, 496–499 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01386-6

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