A study conducted by a team from the Institute of Oceanography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has found that the global average ocean circulation has accelerated significantly in the past 20-plus years, which may lead to the reshaping of the global marine environment.

The findings have been published in Science Progress, a subsidiary publication of the journal Science.

The researchers integrated various data of ocean circulation and sea surface wind speed and analyzed changes in ocean circulation on a global scale.

"Wind is the main power source of ocean circulation," said Hu Shijian, a researcher with the institute. "The speeding-up of sea surface wind has given rise to the acceleration of global average ocean circulation. With increasing greenhouse gas emissions, more than 20 sets of numerical simulations show that the global average sea surface wind speed has significantly increased, indicating that greenhouse gas emissions are the main reason for the acceleration of ocean circulation."

Wang Fan, director of the institute, said the acceleration of ocean circulation will lead to greater material and energy transport, potentially reshaping the global marine environment and exerting a significant impact on marine ecology and the Earth's biochemical system.

(All photos via VCG)

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