"Stretching from waters near Japan to the US."
The fingerprint of climate change is all over this "blob," scientists say. It may fade as winter storms release heat into the air. But if it sticks around, it could bend the jetstream and high altitude winds that steer storms. And it could reshape winter weather across North America.
This “blob” of unusually warm water pushed Japan into its hottest summer ever, with a new record of 107°F set in August.
WATCH: From Japan to US: Record Breaking Marine Heatwave Engulfs Pacific Ocean | Planet Pulse- Firstpost Oct 4 report transcript below
Background:
Preview: Pacific heat mass post coming soon Heating Planet blog- background
Here is CNN report from 2 weeks ago and Washington Post from yesterday so yes this is true.
TRANSCRIPT:
Transcripts here for readers writers and researchers
The Pacific Ocean is heating up, and not
0:03
just in one spot. A massive,
0:06
record-breaking marine heat wave is
0:08
stretching nearly 5,000 miles from
0:12
waters near Japan all the way to the US
0:15
West Coast. Scientists call it a blob of
0:19
warm water. But this one is so huge,
0:22
it's rewriting records and raising
0:25
alarms.
0:27
Imagine
0:32
this. A stretch of ocean the size of a
0:35
continent running thousands of miles,
0:37
shimmering with unusually hot water.
0:41
That's what scientists are tracking
0:43
right now in the North Pacific.
0:46
This heat wave isn't just breaking
0:48
records, it's smashing them.
0:52
Sea surface temperatures across the
0:54
basin hit their highest August levels
0:56
since the late 1800s.
1:02
The effects are already showing around
1:04
Japan. These hot waters fueled the
1:06
country's hottest summer on record,
1:09
pushing the mercury to a scorching 107°
1:13
F.
1:15
On the US side, the same heat wave is
1:18
pumping moisture into California's
1:19
skies.
1:21
It is raising humidity and setting the
1:23
stage for wetter winters if it lingers.
1:26
But what makes this event different is
1:29
its sheer scale. Normally marine heat
1:31
waves appear as blobs, patches of warm
1:34
water.
1:36
But this time, the entire North Pacific
1:38
basin is involved. On weather maps, it's
1:41
a giant red streak stretching across the
1:44
ocean.
1:46
And scientists are worried because we've
1:48
seen this before.
1:50
Between 2013 and 2016, a similar blob
1:54
wre havoc on marine life.
1:57
Millions of seabirds called common murs
1:59
died.
2:01
Sea lions and fish populations crashed
2:04
and the ecosystem struggled to recover.
2:10
Today, experts are already spotting
2:12
troubling signs.
2:14
In Alaska, wildlife officials report
2:16
more dead seabirds and fish washing
2:18
ashore this summer.
2:20
The numbers aren't as catastrophic as
2:23
2015, but they are spread across more
2:25
species.
2:29
So, why is this happening? The answer
2:31
lies in the winds. Normally, winds can
2:34
churn the ocean and bring cooler waters
2:36
from the deep.
2:38
This process is called upwelling. But
2:41
this year, the winds have been weak or
2:43
blowing the wrong way.
2:49
Without that natural cooling, the ocean
2:51
surface gets hotter and hotter. Add
2:54
human-driven climate change to the mix,
2:56
and the problem grows.
2:59
The North Pacific has warmed faster than
3:02
any other ocean in the past decade.
3:06
Scientists say the fingerprint of
3:08
climate change is written all over these
3:10
heat waves.
3:15
The big question now is how long will
3:17
this blob last?
3:19
Some oceanographers believe it may fade
3:21
as strong winter storms stir the waters
3:24
and release heat back into the
3:25
atmosphere.
3:28
But if it sticks around, it could bend
3:30
the jetream or the high altitude winds
3:33
that steer storms. and it could reshape
3:36
winter weather across North America.
3:40
For marine life though, the risks are
3:42
immediate.
3:45
Hotter oceans mean stressed fish
3:47
populations
3:48
and ripple effects that travel all the
3:50
way up the food chain from plankton to
3:52
predators.
3:55
The Pacific Ocean in many ways is
3:57
running a fever.
4:00
Like any fever, it's a warning sign.
4:05
The oceans are heating faster and the
4:07
heat waves are lasting longer.
4:11
And the impacts are spreading from the
4:13
sea to the skies.
4:16
Scientists say what happens out there
4:18
will not stay out there. It's a climate
4:22
story unfolding in real time and it
4:24
affects us all.
4:30
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