From CSIRO – Warming in the Tasman Sea a global warming hot spot
Oceanographers have identified a series of ocean hotspots around the world generated by strengthening wind systems that have driven oceanic currents, including the East Australian Current, polewards beyond their known boundaries.
The hotspots have formed alongside ocean currents that wash the east coast of the major continents and their warming proceeds at a rate far exceeding the average rate of ocean surface warming, according to an international science team whose work is published in the journal Nature Climate Change today.
Paper co-author, CSIRO’s Dr Wenju Cai, said that while the finding has local ecological implications in the region surrounding the hotspots, the major influence is upon the ocean’s ability to take up heat and carbon from the atmosphere.
In Australia’s case, scientists report intensifying east-west winds at high latitudes (45º-55ºS) pushing southward and speeding up the gyre or swirl of currents circulating in the South Pacific, extending from South America to the Australian coast. The resulting changes in ocean circulation patterns have pushed the East Australian Current around 350 kilometres further south, with temperatures east of Tasmania as much as two degrees warmer than they were 60 years ago.
“We would expect natural change in the oceans over decades or centuries but change with such elevated sea surface temperatures in a growing number of locations and in a synchronised manner was definitely not expected,” said CSIRO’s Dr Wenju Cai.
“Detecting these changes has been hindered by limited observations but with a combination of multi-national ocean watch systems and computer simulations we have been able to reconstruct an ocean history in which warming over the past century is 2-3 times faster than the global average ocean warming rate,” says Dr Cai, a climate scientist at CSIRO’s Wealth from Oceans Research Flagship.
The changes are characterised by a combination of currents pushing nearer to the polar regions and intensify with systematic changes of wind over both hemispheres, attributed to increasing greenhouse gases.
Dr Cai said the increase of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has been the major driver of the surface warming of the Earth over the 20th century. This is projected to continue.
He said the research points to the need for a long-term monitoring network of the western boundary currents. In March next year, Australian scientists plan to deploy a series of moored ocean sensors across the East Australian Current to observe change season-to-season and year-to-year.
Lead author of the paper was Dr Lixin Wu, of the Ocean University of China, with contributing authors from five countries, many of whom are members of the Pacific Ocean Panel working under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organisation.
The research was partly funded by a grant from the Australian Climate Change Science Program supported by the Australian Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.
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I guess Dr Cai knows just what he has to do to get that coveted well paid post in an IVY League University.
As I keep saying, the jetstreams and the rest of the weather systems did move poleward in both hemispheres during the late 20th century.
So of course there would be an effect on ocean surface circulation.
The trouble is that the poleward movement stopped around 2000 and now the climate zones are drifting back equatorward again hence all the recent cold air incursions into the mid latitudes.
This data is already 10 years out date.
Millions of people spend billions of dollars seeking out hotspots every winter. What’s the downside? Hundreds of climate scientists spend millions of dollars every year seeking out hotspots to convene and bitch about hotspots … What’s the downside? Oh, the humanity…
“Detecting these changes has been hindered by limited observations but with a combination of multi-national ocean watch systems and computer simulations we have been able to reconstruct an ocean history in which warming over the past century is 2-3 times faster than the global average ocean warming rate,””
Can we give up on the friggin models and just observe, please?
If these people were murderers instead of climate scientists and had murdered someone in broad daylight the press would come to their defense. They’d report that, because there were only a dozen witnesses, the vast consensus is that nobody saw the murder happen so those few witnesses are all just a bunch of evil lying blood libelers, (and then they’d probably go on to defame the decedent as well…)
We need someone to make a pie chart with only two colors showing the percentage of climate scientists employed by government or receiving federal funding versus the percentage employed in the private sector. I’m guessing at least 99% versus 1% ? Getting any number of people behind a ’cause’ is relatively easy when you have …..billions of dollars to pay them to do it.
I love it, it’s just sooo predictable. Firstly they make a declaration that the ocean is going to hell in a handbasket three times faster than it should be – because a computer simulation told them so.
Then they casually throw in the old assertion that the fundamental cause is CO2, despite the fact that this study has nothing – absolutely NOTHING – to do with investigating the effects of CO2.
I just wish these crappy scientists would stick to the facts of their own studies, instead of regurgitating the CAGW line at every opportunity. But then, that’s Big Government-funded science for you. We wouldn’t expect anything else.
Pofarmer nailed it.
“Detecting these changes has been hindered by limited observations but with a combination of multi-national ocean watch systems and computer simulations we have been able to reconstruct an ocean history in which warming over the past century is 2-3 times faster than the global average ocean warming rate,””
translation:
We didn’t notice these changes before because of limited data. We used a model to fill in the missing data, and lo and behold, we found an increase in the warming of the oceans.
“The research was partly funded by a grant from the Australian Climate Change Science Program supported by the Australian Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.”
I would love to see the Vegas odds on anything funded by this group showing something other than Catastrophic Man Made Climate Change. Probably similar to the odds of being gored to death by a unicorn.
Super computers are trying to take over the planet by fooling scientists. It’s time to get back to pen and paper!
So wind driven ocean hotspots, which we think are hotter now then when we didn’t measure them, can save us from a slumbering sun?
Nevermind – at USGS http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hazards/gas/climate.php, SO2 converts
Actually, that makes it harder to get rid of. The rate of radiation loss at the poles is much lower that it is in the tropical deserts; T^4 and all that.
Polar air is much drier, making it easier for heat to escape.
The moon is made of green cheese. My computer simulation says so.
This study is a pile of crap. I’m sorry to be so crude, but really, the Climate Liars will say anything. They haven’t a clue as to whether this phenomenon is natural or not, but lo n behold, without any historical data or facts it’s all because of Global Warming. *Eye roll* The journal that published this tripe should rename themselves – The National Enquirer of Science.
///Begin satire///
10 PRINT “Is Global Warming Real?”
20 PRINT “Press Enter to see: “;
30 INPUT A$
40 PRINT “Yes, it’s real!!!!”
50 END
Yes, our computer simulation proves it!!!!
“He said the research points to the need for a long-term monitoring network of the western boundary currents.”
Huh. The publically funded research points to the need for more publically funded research.
Fancy that.
Look at this every day and watch the “spots” hot and cold move around!
http://weather.unisys.com/surface/sst_anom.gif
At present the Tasman Sea “hot spot” is on holiday, on the beach in Argentina
Mike Robinson says:
January 30, 2012 at 10:41 am
“The research was partly funded by a grant from the Australian Climate Change Science Program supported by the Australian Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.”
I would love to see the Vegas odds on anything funded by this group showing something other than Catastrophic Man Made Climate Change. Probably similar to the odds of being gored to death by a unicorn.
===================================================================
I’ll take the unicorn and the points, Mike.
we find that the post-1900 surface ocean warming rate over the path of these currents is two to three times faster than the global mean surface ocean warming rate.
=============================================================
ROTFL,,,,,,and every one of their graphs show much more cold water behind it
When you have no warming for a “global mean surface ocean warming rate”
David, UK says:
I just wish these crappy scientists would stick to the facts of their own studies, instead of regurgitating the CAGW line at every opportunity. But then, that’s Big Government-funded science for you. We wouldn’t expect anything else.
In the US, you cannot expect anything else. Big Government funding of science does not permit the scientist (crappy or otherwise) to stick to the science of their own studies. US government contracts for environmental science work frequently contain a requirement that the results be interpreted in the context of “climate change”.
George E. Smith says
You’re assuming that radiation from the surface is the major cause of surface energy loss. It isn’t, it’s conduction/convection and evaporation.
DaveE.
How often has this happened during the past 10,000 years? Is it unusual?
You should have heard the ABC (australian) Radio National ‘news’ yesterday…they dedicated half their program to this, the other half was ‘anti-fracking’ and ‘micro-plastic’ in the environment. (I kid you not.)
The ABC and the australian CSIRO are funded by the Green/Labor Coalition…they ‘always’ give the right answers!
“Detecting these changes has been hindered by limited observations but with … computer simulations we have been able to reconstruct an ocean history in which warming … is 2-3 times faster than the … average … rate.”
NEW RULE: Computer simulations shall no longer be allowed as the basis for Climate Science articles! From now on, only empirical data shall be allowed!
Thanks to Russ in Houston, Goracle, Mike Worst, Jim G., Pofarmer, and Steve M. from TN and of course, uber skeptic Bill Maher.
Wind driven hot spots ??
Sail boat with young female crew ???