According to the recharge-discharge oscillator theory (Jin, 1997), the leading mode of tropical Pacific upper ocean heat content anomalies is a predictor (or a precursor) for the onset of El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) at the interannual time scale. A new study published in Nature (Zhao et al., 2024) utilized multiple global sea surface……
Heatwaves usually come with dry conditions because the regions under the so-called heat dome, which is typically responsible for severe heatwave events, are deprived of moisture and rainfall. However, in the southern US states under semi-tropical environments, “moist” heatwave events may occur, causing both the temperature and humidity stresses on human physiology. But, you may……
Currently (as of June 22, 2024), a phenomenon known as Atlantic Niña is brewing in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. As the Atlantic counterpart of La Niña in the Pacific, Atlantic Niña is characterized by the appearance of cold sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) in the eastern equatorial Atlantic. It is known to reduce rainfall and……
During the satellite era (1979-present), the tropical Pacific Ocean has warmed significantly less than the other tropical oceans in response to increasing greenhouse gases (GHGs). This La Niña-like warming trend in observations is in disagreement with the El Niño-like warming trend projected by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) models for both the 20th and……
As of 2024, there are currently 70 permanent research stations from 29 countries scattered around the continent of Antarctica conducting important scientific research to better understand the Earth system and its changes due to human activity. In the Arctic, however, there are no such permanent research stations because there is no land in the Arctic….…
The Labrador Sea is one of the main regions where the surface Atlantic water loses its heat to the atmosphere (thus gets heavier) and sinks into the deep ocean, producing what’s known as deep ocean convection that mainly drives the Atlantic Meridional Ocean Circulation (AMOC). It is also characterized by the Labrador Current, a strong……
The Florida Current (FC) refers to the Gulf Stream across the Florida Straits between Florida and the Bahamas. Its volume transport has been measured continuously since 1982 using submarine cables across the Florida Straits at 27°N by NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML). A previous study (Piecuch and Beal, 2023) reported that the FC……
Recent news articles from the Washington Post “Why hurricane season is suddenly quiet — and what’s in store” and “A rare deluge could hit parts of the Sahara that almost never get rain this time of year” discussed two seemingly unconnected climate conditions around the tropical North Atlantic and West Africa. For the former, some……
As the surface ocean warms and polar ice sheets melt due to increasing anthropogenic greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, near-surface ocean stratification is increasing almost everywhere. In tropical and subtropical oceans, in particular, enhanced near-surface stratification inhibits the mixing between warmer surface water and cooler subsurface water, leading to a shallower surface mixed layer. In……
Scientists have been monitoring the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) at around 26.5°N since April 2004 through the RAPID/Meridional Overturning Circulation and Heatflux Array/Western Boundary Time Series moored array (RAPID). The newly released RAPID dataset fully incorporated a recent geomagnetic correction of the submarine cable measurement of the Florida Current transport, a critical component of……