Study links changing winds to warming in pacific

[_Abyssinia]

A new study released Monday found that warming temperatures in Pacific Ocean waters off the coast of North America over the past century closely followed natural changes in the wind, not increases in greenhouse gases related to global warming.

The study compared ocean surface temperatures from 1900 to 2012 to surface air pressure, a stand-in for wind measurements, and found a close match.

“What we found was the somewhat surprising degree to which the winds can explain all the wiggles in the temperature curve,” said lead author Jim Johnstone, who did the work while a climatologist at the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean at the University of Washington.

hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PACIFIC_WARMING_STUDY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-22-15-40-23

 

[Tony_Micelli]

Old news… the more important question is what is causing these winds to be greater than ever recorded. The PDO strongly influences climate around the world and a recent study shows how extreme weather events like the “polar vortex” of last winter was related to resilient blocking patterns in the jet stream which are likely related to recent warming in the Arctic.