Tiny deep-sea turbulence can swing global climate in a year
New study shows micro-scale turbulence deep in the ocean can affect surface climate on year-long timescales by altering how heat, carbon and nutrients move between the ocean and atmosphere. Tracer work with CFCs and dye experiments reveal faster-than-expected vertical transport, which is currently underestimated by climate models due to simplistic parameterizations. The finding implies climate projections and sea-level rise forecasts could improve with updated representations of deep-ocean mixing and continued, enhanced observations.