“Our data show the impacts of climate change are running ahead of schedule,” said lead author Kathryn Gunn, of the Australian Science agency CSIRO and Britain’s Southampton University.
The implications could be significant, with Antarctica’s deep ocean acting as a key “pump” for the global network of ocean currents.
“As the ocean circulation slows, more carbon dioxide and heat are left in the atmosphere, a feedback that accelerates global warming,” Gunn told AFP.