Experts from the Institute of Polar and Marine Research named after Alfred Wegener (Germany), while studying wind-driven boundary ocean currents in both hemispheres, found their displacement to the north.
According to scientists, this threatens a gradual increase in temperature along the eastern coasts of South America, Australia, Asia and South Africa and, as a result, an increase in its average annual values around the world. In addition, more storms will occur in temperate latitudes in this scenario.
The speed of warm currents penetrating up to a kilometer to a depth reaches about 9 km / h. They are among the fastest ocean currents on Earth.
In their study, the scientists turned to data from oceanological observations, analyzed satellite data on heat loss from 1958 to 2001 and, using computer simulations, built climate change models for the past and the future.
According to one of the authors of the work, researcher Hu Yang, the results showed a three times faster increase in water temperature in surface currents compared to other areas of the ocean and release by them 20% more heat than half a century ago. This led to an increase in the water temperature and flow rate, and therefore the currents began to transfer more heat from the tropics to the Pole. These changes, according to the scientist, were due to increased wind in the hemispheres.
The researchers note that the increased heat transfer from the ocean threatens to increase the risk of storms. Temperatures are expected to rise in China, Korea and Japan over the next decades, especially in winter. Similar changes await Brazil, the culprit of which is believed to be the East Australian current Agulhas. Climatic changes under the influence of these processes, according to scientists, may pose a threat to the flora and fauna of coastal areas.
In this case, the well-known Atlantic warm current, the Gulf Stream, on the contrary, will weaken.