GAO Libao, the young scientist of the Ocean and Climate Research Center of FIO, together with China-Australia Scientific Research Team, has made significant progress in the study of Southern Ocean Warming Mechanism with a research report named “Recent wind-driven change in Subantarctic Mode Water and its impact on ocean heat storage” published in the famous international academic journal Nature Climate Change. This achievement was included in China Top 10 Marine Science and Technology Advances of 2017.

Recently, the warming trend in the Southern Ocean has attracted much attention. Since 2006, the Southern Ocean has absorbed more than 60% of the heat from Global Warming, making it a key element in the Global Warming Hiatus. However, the mechanism behind the Southern Ocean Warming is still mysterious.

As an important component of the Southern Ocean Meridional Circulation, Subantarctic Mode Water can greatly influence the global heat distribution, fresh water circulation, nutritive salt and carbon budget when it sinks or is transported. Based on GAO’s research, it is predicted that the continuous increase of west wind and its curl in the Southern Ocean will further thicken the Subantarctic Mode Water, thus storing more heat from sea-air interface to the inside of the sea and slowing down the speed of global surface warming.