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May
29, 2007 "From ocean
measurements and
by analyzing climate simulations we can see there are changes in
features of
the ocean that cannot be explained by natural variability," said CSIRO
oceanographer Dr. Gael Alory. "These oceanic
changes are
almost certainly linked to changes in the heat structure of the
atmosphere and
have led to a rise in water temperatures in the sub-tropical "At the same time,
we are
seeing changes in ocean circulation in tropical regions as a result of
a
long-term weakening of the The research
– by Dr. Alory, his
CSIRO Wealth from Oceans National Research Flagship colleague, Dr. Gary
Meyers,
and CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric's Dr. Susan Wijffels – has
recently appeared
in the journal, Geophysical Research
Letters. The paper examines trends in
Indian Ocean temperatures
over 40 years that can help scientists and resource managers understand
fluctuations in rainfall patterns over southern The research,
contributing to the
Australian Climate Change Science Program and partly funded by the
South East
Australia Climate Initiative, combined access to ocean observations
using the
volunteer ‘ships of opportunity’ program and a set
of models used by scientists
in developing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC)
Fourth Assessment. Thanks to the operators and crew of
commercial ships,
Australian scientists have access to a regular series of ocean
measurements to
a depth of 800 meters across the The
team’s key findings
were: --A general warming
of the ocean
surface indicating the influence of rising atmospheric temperatures; --A strong warming
(about 2°C
over 40 years) between 40°S and 50°S down to a depth of
800 meters; --And, sub-surface
cooling in the
tropics due to deep waters rising closer to the surface. Dr. Alory says the
research
confirmed a long-held view that temperature changes in the Pacific and
Indian
oceans can be partly explained by the effect of the
‘Indonesian throughflow’ –
a system of currents which transports water between the oceans through
the maze
of straits and passages in the Indonesian Archipelago. "The cooling is
occurring
between He said that the
change in
atmospheric conditions altering ocean temperatures –
weakening of Dr. Alory said
climate models
used in the IPCC Fourth Assessment show that changes in westerly wind
patterns
are expected to intensify in a global warming scenario and to
accentuate the
southward shift in sub-tropical ocean circulation patterns.
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