日本的黑潮（“黑色洋流”）被描绘为如同巨型城市般宽阔，携带的水量超过亚马孙河，并像急流一样流动，能把船只迅速卷走，同时通过向北输送热量和营养维系渔业。同样的水流也促成了早期全球贸易：1565年西班牙水手借它从马尼拉驶向墨西哥，而1792年一批1,000件棉质衬衫在阿卡普尔科无人问津，因为尺码太小。
沿着长达1,100公里的琉球群岛链，最早的智人遗迹可追溯到约30,000年前，这表明人们曾有意穿越黑潮进行海上航行；2019年的独木舟实验在划行超过45小时后抵达与那国岛。它也塑造了现代地缘政治与观测：从1841年一次漂流至鸟岛（东京以南550公里）使一名14岁的漂流者到达美国并在后来返回，到自1893年以漂流信瓶起步、如今使用卫星与系泊观测的洋流测绘。
在过去一个世纪里，全球海洋温度上升约0.6°C，而黑潮海域上升1.3°C（约快2.2倍），且洋流大致向北偏移0.5°，加深分层并改变营养供给。据报道，其影响包括东京湾出现珊瑚礁、伊势虾分布北移、黑潮町附近的ulva海藻年采收量从每年10–20吨降至零，以及带广市单日124厘米降雪——为1953年有记录以来最深——后来在一篇7月论文中被关联到与变暖、北移洋流相关的海洋热浪。
Over the last century, global ocean temperatures increased by about 0.6°C, while the Kuroshio zone saw a rise of 1.3°C, which is about 2.2 times faster. The current has also shifted roughly 0.5° north, leading to deeper stratification and changes in nutrient availability. Reported effects include damaged coral reefs in Tokyo Bay, spiny lobsters expanding their range, and the ulva seaweed harvest dropping from 10–20 tonnes a year to zero. Interestingly, Obihiro experienced a record 124 cm snowfall linked to a marine heat wave associated with the warming current.
Japan’s Kuroshio (“Black Stream”) is portrayed as megacity-wide, carrying more water than the Amazon, and moving like a rapid river that can sweep boats away while sustaining fisheries by transporting heat and nutrients north. The same flow enabled early global trade: in 1565 Spanish sailors rode it from Manila toward Mexico, and in 1792 a shipment of 1,000 cotton shirts found no buyers in Acapulco because the sizes were too small.
Along the 1,100 km Ryukyu chain, the earliest Homo sapiens traces date to about 30,000 years ago, implying deliberate sea crossings across the Kuroshio; a 2019 dugout-canoe experiment reached Yonaguni after more than 45 hours of paddling. It also shaped modern geopolitics and observation, from an 1841 drift to Torishima (550 km south of Tokyo) that sent a 14-year-old castaway to America before his return, to current mapping that began with message bottles in 1893 and now uses satellites and moorings.
Source: A journey along East Asia’s hidden artery
Subtitle: How a mighty ocean current shapes societies
Dateline: 12月 18, 2025 05:44 上午