2009/06/01 by Mathieu Rouault, Pierrick Penven, Benjamin Pohl · 2 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes #Climate variability and models #Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.1029/2009gl037987
openalex publication_date 2009/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Since the 1980's, the sea surface temperature of the Agulhas Current system has increased significantly. The warming is due to an augmentation of its transport in response to an increase in wind stress curl in the South Indian Ocean at relevant latitudes. This causes an increase in the fluxes of salt and heat into the Atlantic Ocean and in the transfer of energy from the ocean to the atmosphere. Therefore, the changes we are witnessing in the region could have far reaching consequences on top of the regional impacts on ecosystem and climate. The increase in wind stress curl is consistent with a poleward shift of westerly wind in the Southern Hemisphere reported by others.