It’s a fact - the Agulhas Current system is warming up

Observations of the recent warming in the Agulhas Current system

Since the 1980s, 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.

The changes we are witnessing in the region could have far reaching consequences on top of the regional impacts on ecosystem and climate.

In their article Warming in the Agulhas Current system since the 1980s, Mathieu Rouault, Pierrick Penven and Benjamin Pohl report on their research findings.