The disappearing Antilles Current dominates the weakening meridional heat transport in the North Atlantic Ocean under global warming

• Published in: Environmental Research Letters
• Main Authors: Cai, Jinzhuo, Yang, Haiyuan, Chen, Zhaohui, Wu, Lixin
• Other Authors: Major Research Plan on West-Pacific Earth, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: IOP Publishing 2024
• Subjects: Curl; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad3567; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad3567; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad3567/pdf

Abstract The Antilles Current (AC) off the Bahamas Islands is an important component for both wind-driven and thermohaline circulation system in the North Atlantic. The evolution of AC intensity could exert substantial impacts on mid-latitude climate and surrounding environment. For instance, an anomalous weaker AC is found to decelerate the nutrient transport in the shelf regions, risking the deep-water corals. In addition, a weaker AC could reduce the poleward heat transport of the Gulf Stream and the North Atlantic Drift and further influence the climate in Western Europe. Based on nine high-resolution coupled climate models, we find a 3.8 Sv weakening of the AC, which is equivalent to 63% of its climatology transport during 1950–2050. The deceleration of AC introduces a −0.17 PW of heat transport decrement, dominating the total heat transport change across 26.5° N. Further analysis reveals that change of AC is mainly attributed to the evolution of thermohaline circulation in a changing climate and is partly influenced by wind stress curl in the North Atlantic. Our finding highlights the needs to establish a long-term monitoring network for the AC and a comprehensive understanding of associated impacts.