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In reply to the discussion: Former EPA leader: ‘Irresponsible’ for US to halt nuclear power [View all]RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)Govt Scientists: Something very unusual occurring off west coast of US, Canada Unprecedented in historical record Will dramatically reduce productivity in 6,500 sq. miles of ocean Anomaly extends across Pacific to Japan Who knows what will happen? (MAP)
Fishletter Issue 335, July 24, 2014 (emphasis added): There is a massive pool of warm water in the Gulf of Alaska, NOAA scientist Nate Mantua said in an email. It is unprecedented in the historical record, he added
the past year is way out of the historical range so who knows what will happen?
NOAA Fisheries, Sept. 2014: Scientists across NOAA Fisheries are watching a persistent expanse of exceptionally warm water spanning the Gulf of Alaska that could send reverberations through the marine food web. The warm expanse appeared about a year ago and the longer it lingers, the greater potential it has to affect ocean life
Right now its super warm all the way across the Pacific to Japan, said Bill Peterson, an oceanographer with NOAA
its a very interesting time because when you see something like this thats totally new you have opportunities to learn things you were never expecting. Not since records began has the region of the North Pacific Ocean been so warm for so long
The situation does not match recognized patterns in ocean conditions such as El Niño Southern Oscillation or Pacific Decadal Oscillation
Its a strange and mixed bag out there, Mantua said
warm temperatures are higher and cover more of the northern Pacific than the PDO typically affects
cold near-shore conditions in the Pacific Northwest also dont match the typical PDO pattern.
North Pacific Marine Science Organization (pdf), Summer 2014: In March 2014 there was something very unusual occurring in the Northeast (NE) Pacific that might have substantial consequences for biota in the Gulf of Alaska and southward into the subtropics
we see SST departures of 4.5 standard deviations
The anomaly field covers a large region of the N.E. Pacific
The authors of this article have never seen deviations
Something as extraordinary as a 4.5-sigma deviation requires corroboration
Argo data verify the very large temperature departures
and similar large deviations in salinity
the event is primarily restricted to the upper 100 metres of the water
In most years, a winter region of high productivity is created by this Ekman transport
Without nutrients from the subarctic, the productivity of subtropical waters must decline
Between 3040°N, surface chlorophyll dropped to 60% of the average values
weakened nutrient transport from the subarctic into the subtropics this past winter will dramatically reduce the productivity of the eastern subtropics over an area of ~17,000 km² .