Reduced Wind Power on Oceanic Near‐Inertial Internal Waves in a Warming Climate

Wind power on oceanic near‐inertial internal waves () is one of the major energy sources to sustain ocean turbulent diapycnal mixing. However, its response to global warming remains poorly understood. Using a high‐resolution climate simulation that simulates reasonably well, we show that under a high‐emission scenario, the quasi‐globally (5°–60° latitudes) integrated exhibits a significant negative trend of per century during 2001–2100, decreasing by about 13% by the end of the 21st century compared to its present level. This decline is driven by reduced near‐inertial wind stress variance, primarily due to weakened mid‐latitude storm activities resulting from a poleward shift of storm tracks in both hemispheres and weakening of storm tracks in the Northern Hemisphere. Our findings suggest that near‐inertial internal waves should likely weaken in a warming climate, with important implications for ocean turbulent diapycnal mixing.