09-23-2019, 07:11 AM
Weather
Shared from Pacific Palisades, CA
The Blob Is Back Along With Its Threat To Sea Life And Snowpack
A massive marine heatwave, dubbed 'The Blob' is back. Last time we saw it, California had the worst snowpack on record and sickened sea life
By Paige Austin, Patch Staff
Sep 22, 2019 12:40 am ET
[img=384x0]https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/73734/20190921/082829/styles/patch_image/public/the-blob___21201810369.png?width=705[/img]A comparison of the blob, marine heatwaves, from 2014 and 2019. (Source: NOAA)
LOS ANGELES, CA — 'The Blob' is back, and that could mean trouble. The 1,000-mile-wide stretch of abnormally warm water is lingering off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, and if it doesn't dissipate soon, it could lead to a very dry winter for the Golden State, toxic algae blooms, mass die-offs of shellfish and sickened sea mammals.
That's what happened the last time the blob formed in 2015, and scientists, ski resorts and marine mammal rescue groups are watching closely to see what will happen with this year's blob. The problem, explained National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Meteorologist John Dumas, is that the phenomenon is new enough that it's hard to predict precisely what impact it will have on the climate.
"This is a fairly new thing we are studying and finding out exactly how it will impact us is something we are still trying to figure out," Dumas said. "Odds are we'll have a warmer summer and less precipitation than normal, less snow."
In 2015, higher temperatures combined with low precipitation, leading to one of the lowest snowpack levels on record and one of the state's worst droughts in centuries. October 2015, went down as the hottest October ever in most of Southern California, as the average high temperature was 4 degrees hotter than the previous hottest October. That year was supposed to be a monster El Niño, but the torrential rains never materialized in California because the blob appeared to force the storm systems to the Pacific Northwest.
Dumas likens the struggle between the two forces of nature as Godzilla vs. King Kong. In 2015, the blob was strong enough to nullify the impact of a large El Niño. So far, the 2019 blob is shaping up to be on par with the 2015 phenomenon. In fact, NOAA has deemed it the Pacific's second largest marine heat wave in decades.
So far, the blob has remained far off shore and has averaged temperatures of 4 to 5 degrees fahrenheit above normal. That's enough to affect storm systems and marine life particularly if the blob moves toward the coast.
In 2015, the elevated water temperatures appeared to be linked to a massive algae bloom that sickened sealife, particularly seals and sea lions, which showed up along the coast starving and disoriented. The algae killed plankton, a basic food source in the marine food chain. At times, rescue groups were getting more sickened animals than they could care for.
Scientists aren't sure why the blob formed, though many blame a ridge of high pressure that brought sunnier weather and less mixing of surface water with colder, deeper water. Philip Mote, director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute at Oregon State University, published a study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters examining the record low snowpack in 2015-16.
"Some recent studies suggest that a high pressure ridge that caused warmer temperatures over land also created the blob, but our results suggest that the blob itself may also have contributed to the warm winter here," Mote concluded at the time.
Though the blob may be a relatively new phenomenon, scientists worry it could become more frequent with climate change.
But climatologists aren't at all certain this year's blob will have the same effect as the 2015 blob, because this year, the warm water doesn't go nearly as deep.
The warm water only extends about 65 feet down compared to the 400-foot depths of the 2015 blob, Andrew Leising, a research oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told the Washington Post.
"It is its own event, it is doing its own thing," Hillary Scannell, an oceanographer at the University of Washington, told the Post. "A lot of folks are really worried because we've had these recurring heat waves in the northeast Pacific, and so the ecosystems here haven't had a chance to experience what's normal in a while."
Shared from Pacific Palisades, CA
The Blob Is Back Along With Its Threat To Sea Life And Snowpack
A massive marine heatwave, dubbed 'The Blob' is back. Last time we saw it, California had the worst snowpack on record and sickened sea life
By Paige Austin, Patch Staff
Sep 22, 2019 12:40 am ET
[img=384x0]https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/73734/20190921/082829/styles/patch_image/public/the-blob___21201810369.png?width=705[/img]A comparison of the blob, marine heatwaves, from 2014 and 2019. (Source: NOAA)
LOS ANGELES, CA — 'The Blob' is back, and that could mean trouble. The 1,000-mile-wide stretch of abnormally warm water is lingering off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, and if it doesn't dissipate soon, it could lead to a very dry winter for the Golden State, toxic algae blooms, mass die-offs of shellfish and sickened sea mammals.
That's what happened the last time the blob formed in 2015, and scientists, ski resorts and marine mammal rescue groups are watching closely to see what will happen with this year's blob. The problem, explained National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Meteorologist John Dumas, is that the phenomenon is new enough that it's hard to predict precisely what impact it will have on the climate.
"This is a fairly new thing we are studying and finding out exactly how it will impact us is something we are still trying to figure out," Dumas said. "Odds are we'll have a warmer summer and less precipitation than normal, less snow."
In 2015, higher temperatures combined with low precipitation, leading to one of the lowest snowpack levels on record and one of the state's worst droughts in centuries. October 2015, went down as the hottest October ever in most of Southern California, as the average high temperature was 4 degrees hotter than the previous hottest October. That year was supposed to be a monster El Niño, but the torrential rains never materialized in California because the blob appeared to force the storm systems to the Pacific Northwest.
Dumas likens the struggle between the two forces of nature as Godzilla vs. King Kong. In 2015, the blob was strong enough to nullify the impact of a large El Niño. So far, the 2019 blob is shaping up to be on par with the 2015 phenomenon. In fact, NOAA has deemed it the Pacific's second largest marine heat wave in decades.
So far, the blob has remained far off shore and has averaged temperatures of 4 to 5 degrees fahrenheit above normal. That's enough to affect storm systems and marine life particularly if the blob moves toward the coast.
In 2015, the elevated water temperatures appeared to be linked to a massive algae bloom that sickened sealife, particularly seals and sea lions, which showed up along the coast starving and disoriented. The algae killed plankton, a basic food source in the marine food chain. At times, rescue groups were getting more sickened animals than they could care for.
Scientists aren't sure why the blob formed, though many blame a ridge of high pressure that brought sunnier weather and less mixing of surface water with colder, deeper water. Philip Mote, director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute at Oregon State University, published a study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters examining the record low snowpack in 2015-16.
"Some recent studies suggest that a high pressure ridge that caused warmer temperatures over land also created the blob, but our results suggest that the blob itself may also have contributed to the warm winter here," Mote concluded at the time.
Though the blob may be a relatively new phenomenon, scientists worry it could become more frequent with climate change.
But climatologists aren't at all certain this year's blob will have the same effect as the 2015 blob, because this year, the warm water doesn't go nearly as deep.
The warm water only extends about 65 feet down compared to the 400-foot depths of the 2015 blob, Andrew Leising, a research oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told the Washington Post.
"It is its own event, it is doing its own thing," Hillary Scannell, an oceanographer at the University of Washington, told the Post. "A lot of folks are really worried because we've had these recurring heat waves in the northeast Pacific, and so the ecosystems here haven't had a chance to experience what's normal in a while."
Let God lead the way!
Give a man a fish he eats for one day, teach him to fish he eats forever!
Give a man a fish he eats for one day, teach him to fish he eats forever!
