This Ocean Is Losing Salt at Unprecedented Speed, And It Might Just Turn Our Climate Plans Upside Down
The Daily Galaxy • • science
Key Points:
- The Southern Indian Ocean off Western Australia has experienced a 30% drop in salinity over the past 60 years, an unprecedented rate attributed to global warming altering wind patterns that push more freshwater into the region.
- This freshening is caused not by increased rainfall but by winds moving freshwater from the Indo-Pacific freshwater pool into the ocean, significantly diluting its salinity.
- Changes in salinity affect seawater density, disrupting ocean currents responsible for vertical mixing, which is essential for nutrient distribution and marine ecosystem health.
- Disruption of these currents could harm foundational marine species like plankton and seagrass, potentially impacting biodiversity and the broader marine food web.
- The Southern Indian Ocean's role in global thermohaline circulation
