Study Oceanic Temperature To Drought

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CLIMATE CHANGE: Study Links Oceanic Temperature To Drought

A study published in the journal Science today suggests that the drought that

has parched the western United States, southern Europe and Central Asia for the

last four years may be linked to global warming -- and may presage droughts to

come.

 

Martin Hoerling and Arun Kumar of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration say temperature shifts in the Pacific from 1998 to 2002 were

unlike anything in recorded history. While waters in the Indian Ocean and

western Pacific were unusually warm, sea temperatures in the eastern Pacific

were cooler. The result was that an " almost unbroken zonal belt of high

pressure wrapped the middle latitudes, " according to Hoerling, affecting

precipitation during the four years of the drought. Some of the

drought-stricken areas received only half their normal rainfall during this

period.

 

The scientists characterize the warming in the western Pacific as " possibly

inexorable. " If that is the case, droughts could become more frequent in the

future (Mike Toner, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan. 31).

 

Periodic warming in the eastern Pacific combined with cooling in the west has

long been linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon, which in turn signals

failure of the monsoons in India and flooding in typically arid regions. But

scientists must still determine how slight alterations in sea temperatures in a

single region -- the Pacific -- could have such an impact on the rest of the

globe (Tim Radford, London Guardian, Jan. 31).