The Response of Western Boundary Currents to Intensifying Global Winds

Western boundary currents, such as the Agulhas Current, are the most intense meridional flows in the ocean, carrying heat away from the tropics and towards the poles. There is evidence that these current systems are shifting and/or intensifying under anthropogenic climate change, potentially exacerbating warming and extreme weather events in the mid-latitudes. We use new ocean measurements to show that since the early 1990s the Agulhas Current has not strengthened, despite an increase in sea surface temperature indicative of intensification. Rather, the current has been widening, which we attribute to increased eddy activity. Recent analyses of the Kuroshio and East Australia Current hint at similar trends. These results suggest that increased energy input by the winds may be increasing the instability of boundary currents, rather than intensifying their mean flow, with potential impacts on ocean mixing, ventilation, and shelf interactions. Sustained measurements are needed to properly understand the role of these current systems in future climate change.