In the News Archive

Earth is under an “El Niño watch” as scientists eye signs that the climate pattern is developing. Its arrival could mean significant impacts worldwide, including a push toward levels of global warming that climate scientists have warned could be devastating. Mike McPhaden is quoted. 

Researchers say one reason for the recent spike is the possible onset of an El Niño climate pattern. But, one scientist adds, "The real issue is the rising greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, which are going up and up and up.” Mike McPhaden is quoted. 

Revamped tropical Pacific buoys could aid atmospheric river forecasts. Billy Kessler is quoted and disucssed TPOS2020. 

The world’s oceans have suddenly spiked much hotter and well above record levels in the last few weeks, with scientists trying to figure out what it means and whether it forecasts a surge in atmospheric warming. Mike McPhaden and Greg Johsnon are quoted. 

Deep sea explorers have discovered multiple fields in the Atlantic Ocean where super-heated water billows like smoke from the seafloor over 2,200 miles east of Miami. PMEL's EOI program lead the Lost Cities expedition. 

In February, on an icebreaker off the coast of West Antarctica, Robert Larter, a marine geophysicist with the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), came on deck to a startling sight: open gray water as far as the eye could see. There was no ice at all for the ship to break. The next day, satellite surveys would find sea ice around the continent hitting a record low. Deep Argo research was mentioned. 

Climate models around the globe continue to warn of a potential El Niño developing later this year – a pattern of ocean warming in the Pacific that can increase the risk of catastrophic weather events around the globe. Mike McPhaden is quoted. 

The temperature of the world’s ocean surface has hit an all-time high since satellite records began, leading to marine heatwaves around the globe, according to US government data. Mike McPhaden is quoted. 

The temperature of the world’s ocean surface has hit an all-time high since satellite records began, leading to marine heatwaves around the globe, according to US government data. Mike McPhaden is quoted. 

An extended episode of the global climate pattern known as La Niña is over, and scientists suspect a “rapid evolution” to El Niño — known for accelerating planetary warming and inducing extreme weather — could occur this summer. Mike McPhaden is quoted. 

A group of international experts, including representatives from NOAA, simulated a mega tsunami that is thought to have caused a global mass extinction event that also wiped out the dinosaurs. Experts believe that the asteroid strike on Earth 66 million years ago caused a mega tsunami. Modeling work by Vasily Titov is referenced. 

From tsunamis to vibrational waves to lightning storms, the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai explosion is still surprising researchers with superlative discoveries. Sharon Walker is quoted. 

One year later, researchers are marveling at the power of the Hunga Tonga explosion—and wondering how to monitor hundreds of other undersea volcanoes. Sharon Walker is quoted. 

The eruption of the Hunga Tonga undersea volcano in the Pacific Ocean early this year was so powerful that it sent a massive plume of water vapor into space, according to research released Monday. A volcano launching water beyond the atmosphere had never before been observed by scientists. The research underscores the unusually violent nature of the eruption — and highlights the broader risks from undersea volcanoes. Sharon Walker is quoted from the AGU Press Conference held on Monday, December 12. 

Extreme weather and ocean events are on the rise around the world, due largely to human-caused climate change. But to fully understand these changes—and, ideally, to predict when and where they may occur in the future—researchers and policymakers must also take into account naturally occurring climate variability, suggests new research published in Nature Communications and led by the University of Colorado Boulder. Mike McPhaden is quoted.