Emerging Climate Signals in Tropical Oxygen Minimum Zones

Abstract

The ocean is losing oxygen due to anthropogenic climate change. This loss is particularly worrying when it occurs in naturally low-oxygen regions, such as the Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZs) found at mid-depth in tropical oceans, because the expansion of OMZs reduces habitable space for marine life and threatens oxygen-dependent ecosystems. However, detecting the emergence of climate-driven signals is challenging due to internal variability. Here, we isolate externally forced signals of tropical OMZ volume change and regional deoxygenation, and determine their time of emergence using the IPSL-CM6A-LR Large Ensemble. We apply time of emergence analysis to identify when climate-driven signals become statistically distinguishable from natural variability. Our results show that tropical OMZ edges consistently expand, with emergence occurring in the second half of the 20th century, which is in phase with regional mean deoxygenation in the tropical Pacific and tropical Atlantic. By contrast, we reveal a marked spatial asymmetry in the emergence of OMZ core and hypoxic volumes between the northern and southern parts of tropical OMZs. While OMZ core volumes in the tropical North Pacific and hypoxic volumes in the tropical North Atlantic expand, the tropical South Pacific OMZ core and the tropical South Atlantic hypoxic volume contract. This contraction in the southern hemisphere is due to a sudden increase in ventilation, reflected by a decrease in the age since surface contact at the start of the 21st century. Uncertainties in emergence timing range from 20 to 30 years across ensemble members, and increase substantially in regions influenced by abrupt changes in OMZ ventilation. By linking the emergence of regional deoxygenation to that of OMZ volume changes, climate-driven expansions of tropical OMZ volumes appear to be beginning to emerge, with distinct dynamics between northern and southern tropical oceans.