A change in the freshwater balance of the Atlantic Ocean over the past four decades
A change in the freshwater balance of the Atlantic Ocean over the past four decades
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DOI：
10.1038/nature02206
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发表时间：
2003-12-18
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Yashayaev, I
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Curry, R;Dickson, B;Yashayaev, I
海洋是地球气候系统几个重要组成部分的全球储藏库和再分配机构，其中包括热量、淡水和二氧化碳。尽管这些成分与大气进行了积极的交换，但盐是一种在海洋中几乎被保存的成分。海洋中的盐度分布被广泛测量，因此可以用来诊断地表淡水通量(1)、淡水输送(2)和局部海洋混合(3)的比率——气候动力学的重要组成部分。在这里，我们展示了20世纪50年代至90年代大西洋西部盆地的一个长样带（南纬50度至北纬60度）的盐度比较。我们发现两极有系统的变新鲜，而低纬度地区上层水柱的盐度则大幅度增加。我们的结果扩展了越来越多的证据，表明淡水和咸水的海洋分布的变化正在世界范围内发生，这表明与全球变暖和地球水文循环可能发生的变化有关。
The oceans are a global reservoir and redistribution agent for several important constituents of the Earth's climate system, among them heat, fresh water and carbon dioxide. Whereas these constituents are actively exchanged with the atmosphere, salt is a component that is approximately conserved in the ocean. The distribution of salinity in the ocean is widely measured, and can therefore be used to diagnose rates of surface freshwater fluxes(1), freshwater transport(2) and local ocean mixing(3) - important components of climate dynamics. Here we present a comparison of salinities on a long transect (50degrees S to 60degrees N) through the western basins of the Atlantic Ocean between the 1950s and the 1990s. We find systematic freshening at both poleward ends contrasted with large increases of salinity pervading the upper water column at low latitudes. Our results extend a growing body of evidence indicating that shifts in the oceanic distribution of fresh and saline waters are occurring worldwide in ways that suggest links to global warming and possible changes in the hydrologic cycle of the Earth.