Global Warming Kicks Up Record Pacific Trade Winds

Photo by Discovery

Rapid warming of the Atlantic Ocean is "turbocharging" Pacific equatorial trade winds, according to new research. These are the strongest trade winds since recording began in the 1860s, according to scientists from the University of New South Wales and the University of Hawaii.

"The increase in these winds has ... amplified the Californian drought, accelerated sea level rise three times faster than the global average in the Western Pacific and has slowed the rise of global average surface temperatures since 2001," the study's authors report.

The reason for that climate change plateau puzzles atmospheric scientists. The answer may be blowing in the trade winds, persistent surface winds that flow from East to West near the equator.

“Scientists have long suspected that extra ocean heat uptake has slowed the rise of global average temperatures, but the mechanism behind the hiatus remained unclear,” said Matthew England of the University of New South Wales and lead author of the recent study published in Nature Climate Change, in a press release.

By Discovery