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Pacific Ocean Temperature Influences Tornado Activity in U.S., MU Study Finds

By Guest PostNovember 4, 2013Environmentalabama, atmospheric science, ef scale, enhanced fuijta scale, illinois, Indiana, into tennessee, jerett rion, laurel mccoy, pacific decadal oscillation, pacific ocean temperature, pdo, sea temperature, strength of tornados, tony lupo, tornado activity, united states, university of missouri, US, weather conditions

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Meteorologists often use information about warm and cold fronts to determine whether a tornado will occur in a particular area. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found that the temperature of the Pacific Ocean could help scientists predict the type and location of tornado activity in the U.S.

Laurel McCoy, an atmospheric science graduate student at the MU School of Natural Resources, and Tony Lupo, professor and chair of atmospheric science in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, surveyed 56,457 tornado-like events from 1950 to 2011. They found that when surface sea temperatures were warmer than average, the U.S. experienced 20.3 percent more tornados that were rated EF-2 to EF-5 on the Enhanced Fuijta (EF) scale. (The EF scale rates the strength of tornados based on the damage they cause. The scale has six category rankings from zero to five.) (more…)

Climate Change Study Strengthens Link to Human Activities

By Guest PostDecember 5, 2012EnvironmentAntarctica, Arctic, atmospheric temperature, benjamin santer, berkeley lab, carbon dioxide, cfcs, chlorofluorocarbons, climate change, climate models, coolants, el niño, evidence, greenhouse gases, higgs boson, human factors, human influence, llnl, michael wehner, pacific decadal oscillation, phenomena, propellants, satellite data, simulations, southern oscillation, stratospheric temperature, tropospheric, tropospheric warming

Computer Models, Satellite Data Reveal Clearest Evidence Yet of Human Influence on Changing Temperatures

New research shows some of the clearest evidence yet of a discernible human influence on atmospheric temperature.

Published online in the Nov. 29 early edition of the Proceedings of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the study compared 20 of the latest climate models against 33 years of satellite data. When human factors were included in the models, they followed the pattern of temperature changes observed by satellite. When the same simulations were run without considering human influences, the results were quite different.

“We can only match the satellite record when we add in human influences on the atmosphere,” said Michael Wehner, a research scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) Computational Research Division and a coauthor of the article, which involved colleagues from 16 other organizations and was led by Benjamin Santer, an atmospheric scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). (more…)

After a Three-Decade Hiatus, Sea-Level Rise May Return to the West Coast

By Guest PostMay 4, 2011Environmentcoastal sea level, pacific decadal oscillation, warm phase, west coast

WASHINGTON — The West Coast of North America has caught a break that has left sea level in the eastern North Pacific Ocean steady during the last few decades, but there is evidence that a change in wind patterns may be occurring that could cause coastal sea-level rise to accelerate beginning this decade. (more…)

Corals Show Ocean Temperature Boundary Rising with Climate Change

By Guest PostOctober 14, 20101 commentNatureocean temperature boundary, pacific decadal oscillation, subsurface ocean circulation, thermocline shift, tropical corals

WASHINGTON — Researchers looking at corals in the western tropical Pacific Ocean have found signs of a profound shift in the depth where warm surface water and colder deeper water meet—a shift predicted by computer models of global warming. (more…)

Tag Archives: pacific decadal oscillation

Pacific Ocean Temperature Influences Tornado Activity in U.S., MU Study Finds

Climate Change Study Strengthens Link to Human Activities

After a Three-Decade Hiatus, Sea-Level Rise May Return to the West Coast

Corals Show Ocean Temperature Boundary Rising with Climate Change