Inter-basin contrast in the Southern Ocean warming
The Southern Ocean (SO) is a major contributor to global ocean heat uptake, exhibiting deep-reaching warming trends within the 35°S-55°S band. Here, we reveal a notable inter-basin contrast in the SO warming rates. Over the past six decades, the warming of the 0-700 m Atlantic-Indian sector was 40.0 ± 5.7% faster than the Pacific sector, nearly doubling at ~44°S. Ocean-only and coupled model experiments suggest that this basin-scale contrast arises from alterations in wind-driven heat redistribution rather than surface heating. Specifically, the intensification and poleward migration of westerly winds are more prominent in the Atlantic-Indian sector, leading to stronger upper-layer heat convergence. The inter-basin warming contrast is projected to persist and amplify throughout the remainder of the 21<sup>st</sup> century. This study highlights the inter-basin contrast in the past and future SO warming, with useful implications for understanding regional changes in the SO climate, ice mass, and marine ecosystems.
Authors
- Jia‐Rui Shi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7505-1281)
- Yuanyuan Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0810-0930)
- Kai Ge (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7442-5138)
- Fan Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5932-7567)
- Aixue Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1337-287X)
- Gaël Forget (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4234-056X)
- Qian Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2099-233X)
- Xiaodan Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6139-2181)
- Yuanlong Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7239-5756)
Institutions
- Florida State University (US)
- NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (US)
- Fudan University (CN)
- Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (US)
- Institute of Oceanology (CN)
- Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (CN)
- NSF NCAR Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory (US)
- New York University (US)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-10-13
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64112-8
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Climate variability and models
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.11
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Nuclear Safety and Security Commission
- Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences