scholarly journals Atlantic Ocean Heat Transport Enabled by Indo‐Pacific Heat Uptake and Mixing

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (23) ◽  
pp. 13939-13949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan M. Holmes ◽  
Jan D. Zika ◽  
Raffaele Ferrari ◽  
Andrew F. Thompson ◽  
Emily R. Newsom ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 1677-1689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry L. Bryden ◽  
William E. Johns ◽  
Brian A. King ◽  
Gerard McCarthy ◽  
Elaine L. McDonagh ◽  
...  

AbstractNorthward ocean heat transport at 26°N in the Atlantic Ocean has been measured since 2004. The ocean heat transport is large—approximately 1.25 PW, and on interannual time scales it exhibits surprisingly large temporal variability. There has been a long-term reduction in ocean heat transport of 0.17 PW from 1.32 PW before 2009 to 1.15 PW after 2009 (2009–16) on an annual average basis associated with a 2.5-Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) drop in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). The reduction in the AMOC has cooled and freshened the upper ocean north of 26°N over an area following the offshore edge of the Gulf Stream/North Atlantic Current from the Bahamas to Iceland. Cooling peaks south of Iceland where surface temperatures are as much as 2°C cooler in 2016 than they were in 2008. Heat uptake by the atmosphere appears to have been affected particularly along the path of the North Atlantic Current. For the reduction in ocean heat transport, changes in ocean heat content account for about one-quarter of the long-term reduction in ocean heat transport while reduced heat uptake by the atmosphere appears to account for the remainder of the change in ocean heat transport.


Eos ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Betz

Scientists assess how historical temperature biases could impact the detection of ocean heat transport changes in a key area of the South Atlantic Ocean where data are scarce.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongshi Zhang ◽  
Xiangyu Li ◽  
Chuncheng Guo ◽  
Odd Helge Otterå ◽  
Kerim H. Nisancioglu ◽  
...  

Abstract. In the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project phase 2 (PlioMIP2), coupled climate models have been used to simulate an interglacial climate during the mid-Piacenzian warm period (mPWP, 3.264 to 3.025 Ma). Here, we compare the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), poleward ocean heat transport and sea surface warming in the Atlantic simulated with these models. In PlioMIP2, all models simulate an intensified mid-Pliocene AMOC. However, there is no consistent response in the simulated Atlantic ocean heat transport, or the depth of the Atlantic overturning cell. The models show a large spread in the simulated AMOC maximum, the Atlantic ocean heat transport, as well as the surface warming in the North Atlantic. Although a few models simulate a surface warming of ~ 8–12 ° in the North Atlantic, similar to the reconstruction from Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM), most models underestimate this warming. The large model-spread and model-data discrepancies in the PlioMIP2 ensemble does not support the hypothesis that an intensification of the AMOC, together with an increase in northward ocean heat transport, is the dominant forcing for the mid-Pliocene warm climate.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takamasa Tsubouchi ◽  
Kjetil Våge ◽  
Bogi Hansen ◽  
Karin Larsen ◽  
Svein Østerhus ◽  
...  

<div> <p>Warm water of subtropical-origin flows northward in the Atlantic Ocean and transports heat to high latitudes. This poleward heat transport has been implicated as one possible cause of the declining sea ice extent and increasing ocean temperatures across the Nordic Seas and Arctic Ocean, but robust estimates are still lacking. Here we use a box inverse model and over 20 years of volume transport measurements to show that the mean ocean heat transport was 305±26 TW for 1993-2016. A significant increase of 21 TW occurred after 2001, which is sufficient to account for the recent accumulation of heat in the northern seas. Therefore, ocean heat transport may have been a major contributor to climate change since the late 1990s. This increased heat transport contrasts with the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) slowdown at mid-latitudes and indicates a discontinuity of the overturning circulation measured at different latitudes in the Atlantic Ocean.</p> </div>


2018 ◽  
Vol 123 (11) ◽  
pp. 8624-8637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy P. Grist ◽  
Simon A. Josey ◽  
Adrian L. New ◽  
Malcolm Roberts ◽  
Torben Koenigk ◽  
...  

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