Earth’s oceans appear to be warming up

Long-term studies indicate that the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic oceans have been warming since the mid-1950s. A broad study of more than 5 million temperature sensors indicates that average readings have climbed about a half-degree Fahrenheit near the surface and about one-tenth of a degree at depths up to 10,000 feet, a rather significant increase.

This recent warming of ocean waters does point to this so-called “global warming” theory as the oceans can “absorb heat, transport it to subsurface depths and isolate it from the atmosphere.” I have no doubt that the earth has been warming, but I think this is a part of a natural long-term climatological cycle. We may also be rebounding from the “Little Ice Age,” a dramatic period of cooling that began around 1450 (some scientists say it began in the 1100s) and lasted until the mid-1800s.

Whether or not the overall warming of the oceans is directly related to the El Niño and La Niña phenomena, the abnormal warming and cooling of sea-surface temperatures near the equatorial regions of the south-central Pacific Ocean, is still uncertain. There is also strong evidence that we’re living in unprecedented times with all of the weather extremes being experienced on a global scale, the worst in more than 1,000 years. And, we’re now seeing tremendous warming and cooling of these ocean waters within a short period of time.

For example, the normal cycle, or formation, of an El Niño is approximately every seven years. But, we did see a strong El Niño in 1998, another warm-water phenomenon in 2003 and the fast-growing El Niño that began earlier this month.

Robert Felix, the author of “Not By Fire, But By Ice,” states that, “it’s not global warming, it’s ocean warming. Underwater volcanoes are heating the heating the oceans, and that average water temperatures have been consistently warming since the 1950s.”

Many new underwater volcanoes are being discovered almost on a yearly basis. New types of much smaller-type volcanoes called “petit spot volcanoes,” have recently been discovered on the Pacific Ocean floor and are very difficult to spot using satellite technology. These “tiny volcanoes” are now believed to be widespread and “may be heating up the floor of the western Pacific Ocean.”

In the Atlantic Ocean, scientists have recently found a 407 degree Celsius (765 degrees Fahrenheit) hydrothermal vent, the hottest known to ever be discovered on the ocean floor.

In the Arctic Ocean, hydrothermal activity was much higher than expected as the result from elevated levels of volcanic activity. The Gakkel Ridge “is far mightier than the Alps” and the hydrothermal hot springs were also much higher than expected.

Since the 1970s, satellite imagery shows a shrinking of ice around Greenland and Antarctica. But, the ice that is melting has been primarily over water. In the center of Greenland, however, ice has been thickening at a rate of 10 percent since 1940. Recent observations now show that the ice in the center of that continent is over a mile thick.

Inland Empire fall weather outlook

Thanks to the new El Niño in south-central Pacific Ocean, we may not see a flake of snow until at least mid-to-late November as temperatures during this fall season should average warmer than normal.

It may take more time for substantial moisture to arrive in our region as the strong ridge of high pressure that brought this area one of the driest summers ever recorded continues to hang on.

I do expect rainfall to increase around mid-to-late October. From that point until December, we should see near to above normal moisture with below normal snowfall in the Spokane, Spokane Valley and Coeur d’Alene area. Based on long-term climatological records, we typically see that type of pattern about 70 percent of the time. But, it may be cold enough to produce enough snow in the mountains for a decent ski season. Stay tuned.