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Can the Pacific Ocean slow down the rising in global temperatures? New study shows that the winds in the Pacific may pause global warming.
Global warming has shown a slight stand by and researchers think that the Pacific Ocean might have a lot to do with it.
A new study which has been published in the Journal of Climate, discovered that strong trade winds are pushing the heat inside the ocean causing the land to absorb less heat for a certain amount of time.
Since heat is being forced inside the waters of the ocean, cold water has been brought to the surface and took the place of warm waters from the east region of the Pacific.
Researchers think that what caused the temperatures to change in the Pacific ocean, are also related to the decrease of rain in the west of the United States.
Most of the storms that cause rain, are being forwarded towards Canada, and the researches pointed out the fact that up to 92% of the dry weather conditions present in the west of the United States are connected to the phenomenon of trade winds shifts happening in the waters of the Pacific.
Scientists have analyzed documents from 1791, which showed that the Pacific Decadal Oscillation has started cooling down right before global warming started to rise. The result of this, was the cooling of ecuatorial waters and the warming of the polar areas. The results of this process could be felt in the subtropical areas at a depth of 2,300 feet, stated reports.
The heat in the atmosphere which brings up the temperatures on the planet, was being pushed into the ocean, which has slowed down global temperatures from getting higher.
Since the ocean and the atmosphere are connected constantly, the heat exchange between them is inevitable and studies have shown that up to 90% of the heat that was supposed to be in the atmosphere containing high amounts of CO2 has been sucked in by the ocean, explained Braddock Linsley an expert from Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory from Columbia University.
The study combined with previous ones, is very important as is provides evidence of how relevant for the droughts in the United States is the situation in the tropical Pacific, explained Shang-Ping Xie from the Scripps Institute for Oceanography.
The Pacific decadal oscillation, is a climate change process, between the atmosphere and the ocean happening in the mid latitude of the waters of the Pacific and oscillates between cool and warm waters shifts.
Scientists have discovered that these oscillations occur at every 20 to 25 years and if this statistics are true, this means that the cooling stage started 15 years ago and now we are heading towards a warming stage. Scientists believe that the warming of the waters has started in April 2014.
Image Source: Pacific Northwest
