Scientists discover new ocean current, North Pacific Gyre Oscillation

Washington, May 1 : Georgia Institute of Technology scientists have discovered a new ocean current that has now been named the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation.

The new pattern, has for the first time explained the changes in the water that are important in helping commercial fishermen understand fluctuations in the fish stock.

The North Pacific Gyre Oscillation gives details on changes in salinity, nutrients and chlorophyll seen in the Northeast Pacific.

Boffins say that large fluctuations in these factors could help climatologists in predicting how the oceans will respond in a warmer world.

"We've been able to explain, for the first time, the changes in salinity, nutrients and chlorophyll that we see in the Northeast Pacific," said Emanuele Di Lorenzo, assistant professor in Georgia Tech's School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

Fishermen in the California current of the Pacific Ocean have been tracking temperature, salinity and nutrients, etc, in the ocean since 1945, for predicting changes in fish populations like sardines and anchovies that are important for the industry.

Di Lorenzo studied this data, along with satellite images, and discovered a pattern of current and named it-North Pacific Gyre Oscillation.

According to recent satellite data, this current is undergoing intensification as the temperature of the Earth has risen over the past few decades.

"Although the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation is part of a natural cycle of the climate system, we find evidence suggesting that its amplitude may increase as global warming progresses," said Di Lorenzo.

In case this holds true, this newly found climate pattern would be of great help to scientists in predicting how the ecosystem of the Pacific Ocean is likely to change if the world continues to warm, as predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The research appears in the recent edition of the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

ANI