Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Briefing
  • Published:

Deep-ocean currents weaken in a warming climate

Analysis of high-resolution climate models reveals a substantial reduction in global oceanic kinetic energy under global warming. This reduction of oceanic kinetic energy is mainly due to weakened mesoscale eddies in the deep ocean.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Response of oceanic mesoscale eddies in the deep ocean to global warming dominates anthropogenic changes in globally integrated kinetic energy.

References

  1. Wunsch, C. & Ferrari, R. Vertical mixing, energy, and the general circulation of the oceans. Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 36, 281–314 (2004). A review of ocean currents.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Peng, Q. et al. Surface warming-induced global acceleration of upper ocean currents. Sci. Adv. 8, eabj8394 (2022). This paper reports an acceleration of large-scale ocean circulations in the upper ocean in response to global warming.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Hu, S. et al. Deep-reaching acceleration of global mean ocean circulation over the past two decades. Sci. Adv. 6, eaax7727 (2020). This paper reports accelerated large-scale ocean circulations over the past 50 years.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Storer, B. A., Buzzicotti, M., Khatri, H., Griffies, S. M. & Aluie, H. Global energy spectrum of the general oceanic circulation. Nat. Commun. 13, 5314 (2022). This paper introduces the distribution of oceanic kinetic energy in wavenumber space.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Martínez-Moreno, J. et al. Global changes in oceanic mesoscale currents over the satellite altimetry record. Nat. Clim. Change 11, 397–403 (2021). This paper reports the long-term trend in surface EKE over the past 30 years, inferred from satellite altimetry data.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This is a summary of: Wang, S. et al. A more quiescent deep ocean under global warming. Nat. Clim. Change https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02075-2 (2024).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Deep-ocean currents weaken in a warming climate. Nat. Clim. Chang. 14, 905–906 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02076-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02076-1

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing Anthropocene

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Anthropocene newsletter — what matters in anthropocene research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Anthropocene