"A marine heatwave known as a blob was especially severe this year in the north-western and central Pacific Ocean, which could lead in the coming months to increased flooding in the US Pacific north-west and especially wintery weather in eastern North America, according to climate scientists. The temperature in August in the northern Pacific was 2.5C above preindustrial levels, according to Berkeley Earth, a non-profit that studies global warming."
"Bond said he started calling such a heatwave a blob because they are not static. They are kind of amorphous. They move around and evolve with time as the weather changes. Over the past decade, such heatwaves have become more severe and frequent. It has become appreciated that there can be these events that happen in the ocean that are significant, especially from an ecosystem point of view but also from a weather point of view, Bond said."
A marine heatwave ('blob') in the north-western and central Pacific reached especially severe intensity this year and poses downstream weather risks. Warmer ocean conditions could increase flooding in the US Pacific northwest and promote wintery weather in eastern North America in coming months. Berkeley Earth measured August northern Pacific temperatures 2.5°C above preindustrial levels, a spike that can increase thunderstorms and disrupt marine species. Blobs are amorphous, mobile ocean heat anomalies that have become more frequent and severe over the past decade. The 2014–2016 blob reached up to 3°C above normal and triggered unprecedented harmful algal blooms that closed commercial shellfish fisheries.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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