Climate Clues In Southern Ocean: Ocean Currents Surprisingly Resistant To Intensifying Winds
Tuesday, December 2, 2008 - 18:28
in Earth & Climate
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the current system with the largest volume transport in the world ocean. Between 40° and 60°S strong westerlies move about 140 million cubic meters of water per second around the Antarctic continent (this is about five times the transport of the Gulf Stream). Vertical motions associated with this current have been responsible for transporting a substantial fraction of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere to the deep ocean, thereby effectively damping the rate of global warming.