Climate change is causing the ocean to act unpredictably.
The deeper mixed layers have a high heat content, which means they have a higher level of “thermal inertia.” There, the water even more slowly changes to match the temperature of its surroundings. This acts as a cushion—protecting the deepest, most “memory” intensive parts of the ocean from changes that might disrupt it.
But with climate change, this cushion-like level could be shrinking. And without it, storing those long-term climatic memories is harder and less predictable.As the planet heats up, this mixed level is disappearing. “The layer is becoming shallower and shallower as a response to the warming because the ocean becomes more stable,” Shi says. When the mixed layer becomes less mixed, it’s an indication that the zone has become shallower.
Of course, other factors may be at play with reduced memory, like “ocean currents and changes in the energy exchange between the atmosphere and ocean,” co-author Robert Jnglin Wills, a research scientist at University of Washington in Seattle said in a release. Still, the “shoaling of the mixed layer depth and resulting memory decline happens in all regions of the globe, and this makes it an important factor to consider for future climate predictions,” he adds.
What reduced memory could mean is increasingly unpredictable events, like ocean heat waves. While marine heat waves can sometimes be predicted, a shrunken memory can reduce researchers’ ability to predict what the ocean is going to look like. This could also have implications for fisheries, since so much of the industry relies on predicting the future status of the ocean.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
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