Research at the Beal Lab focuses on understanding variability and change in western boundary currents, like the Agulhas system in the south Indian Ocean and the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic. These currents are some of the most intense flows in the ocean, efficiently carrying momentum, heat, and nutrients from the tropics into the mid-latitudes where they fuel oceanic eddies, atmospheric storm tracks, and rich feeding grounds for sea life. There is already evidence from research done at the Beal Lab, as well as by other researchers around the world, that western boundary currents are rapidly changing in response to anthropogenic global warming. We are curious about these mighty currents--each carrying heat energy equivalent to some half a million nuclear power plants—and how they will affect our future climate.
