Arctic freshwater accumulation by winds
Nature Geoscience
2012년1월23일
The observed increase of freshwater storage in the western Arctic Ocean over the past few decades has coincided with favourable changes in wind patterns, reports a study published online this week in Nature Geoscience. If the accumulation of freshwater has been wind-driven, a reversal of the wind patterns could release the freshwater, with potential implications for the regional ocean circulation. Katherine Giles and co-authors found an increasingly steep dome of water in the western Arctic in satellite measurements of sea surface height between 1995 and 2010, and a corresponding change in wind patterns. The dome is associated with the Beaufort Gyre, a circular current in the western Arctic Ocean, and its steepening suggests an acceleration of the gyre. The researchers estimate that about 8,000 cubic kilometres of freshwater is stored in the Beaufort Gyre through this acceleration, in agreement with hydrographic measurements.
doi: 10.1038/ngeo1379
리서치 하이라이트
-
8월18일
Environment: Protecting global forest biodiversityNature
-
8월17일
Climate change: North Atlantic hurricane season starting earlierNature Communications
-
8월17일
Climate change: Energy institutions’ decarbonization scenarios evaluated against the Paris AgreementNature Communications
-
8월16일
Food: Modelling global famine and associated deaths from nuclear weapon detonationNature Food
-
8월12일
Climate change: The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the worldCommunications Earth & Environment
-
8월11일
Ecology: Forest responses to climate changeNature
