Sentences with phrase «anomalously warm subsurface»

New research shows how easterly winds in the summer of 2014 caused the anomalously warm subsurface water of the tropical Pacific — which presages an El Niño event and formed following the early 2014 westerly wind burst — to never discharge poleward, thereby remaining in the tropical Pacific and giving a head start to the developing 2015 - 16 El Niño.

Not exact matches

While many sources of stress have caused corals to bleach, «mass» coral bleaching (at scales of 100 km or more) has only occurred when anomalously warm ocean temperatures, typically coupled with high subsurface light levels, exceeded corals» physiological tolerances.

«The authors write that «the El Niño - Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a naturally occurring fluctuation,» whereby «on a timescale of two to seven years, the eastern equatorial Pacific climate varies between anomalously cold (La Niña) and warm (El Niño) conditions,» and that «these swings in temperature are accompanied by changes in the structure of the subsurface ocean, variability in the strength of the equatorial easterly trade winds, shifts in the position of atmospheric convection, and global teleconnection patterns associated with these changes that lead to variations in rainfall and weather patterns in many parts of the world,» which end up affecting «ecosystems, agriculture, freshwater supplies, hurricanes and other severe weather events worldwide.»»

During La Nina heat is buried in the subsurface ocean, whereas during El Nino the surface layer is anomalously warm.