Antarctic Ocean Currents Slowing Sooner Than Predicted, Alarming Climate Experts.

Climate change-driven shifts in the circulation of waters to the deepest reaches of the ocean around Antarctica, which could intensify global warming, are happening decades "ahead of schedule", according to new research. The acceleration of melting Antarctic ice and rising temperatures is expected to have a significant effect on the global network of ocean currents that carry nutrients, oxygen and carbon, threatening marine life and changing the ocean's crucial role in absorbing carbon dioxide and heat. The process of "overturning circulation" of waters in the deepest reaches of the oceans has already slowed 30 percent between the 1990s and 2010s, according to observational data.