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La Niña looks 'frozen' in Pacific
November 19, 1998
This image of the Pacific Ocean was produced using sea-surface
height measurements taken by the U.S.-French TOPEX/Poseidon
satellite. The image shows sea surface height relative to normal
ocean conditions on November 8, 1998; these sea surface heights
are an indicator of the changing amount of heat stored in the
ocean. The image shows that the low sea level or cold pool of
water commonly referred to as La Niña, shown in purple, has
stayed about the same for the last five months changing very
little in size and heat content. The satellite's ability to
monitor the entire ocean indicates there is also a large-scale
warming taking place in the western Pacific, shown here in red
and white. Oceanographers believe that the coexistence of these
two contrasting conditions -- cooler water along the equator and
warmer water in both the northern and southern hemispheres --
indicates that the ocean and the climate system have not
recovered from the record-breaking warming that has occurred
during the past two years. The purple areas are 14 to 18
centimeters (6 to 7 inches) below normal and the blue areas are 5
to 13 centimeters (2 to 5 inches) below normal. The white areas
show the sea surface is between 14 and 32 centimeters (6 to 13
inches) above normal; in the red areas, it is about 10
centimeters (4 inches) above normal. The green areas indicate
normal conditions.
For more information, please visit the TOPEX/Poseidon project
web page at
http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov/
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