Causes of Enhanced Warming of the Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean is warming faster than expected from global warming predictions. This warming has already increased the rate of sea level rise by melting of Antarctic ice shelves, and may alter regional climate and the global overturning circulation. The extent of warming implies the existence an unknown mechanism of heating. In this proposal, we will investigate a new hypothesis: that extra heating is due to enhanced ocean turbulence, energised by increasing wind stress over the Southern Ocean. The results will assist prediction of Australian rainfall and constrain forecasts of global warming impacts.