The region of the ocean known as "the desert of the sea" has expanded dramatically over the past decade…

Question

The region of the ocean known as "the desert of the sea" has expanded dramatically over the past decade… What do you think? Is there any connection to global warming?

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080305_oceandesert.html

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87959035

The science seems to be pretty straightforward. As the surface of the water warms, it becomes more stratified (imagine it like a cake -- upper layer warm water, lower layer cold water). That prevents the colder, nutrient rich water from mixing with the upper layers. Without the nutrients, there's nothing to feed algae that help sustain other marine life.

Answer 1

This story is over 40 years old.  It's the same old news with new headlines, and people who read it for the first time think it's just happening.

Stories like this are the source for much of the alarmism.

Answer 2

They haven't even collected a decade of data yet:

“The fact that we are seeing an expansion of the ocean’s least productive areas as the subtropical gyres warm is consistent with our understanding of the impact of global warming. But with a nine-year time series, it is difficult to rule out decadal variation,” said Jeffrey J. Polovina, an oceanographer with NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service in Honolulu, who authored the study along with NOAA’s Evan A. Howell and Melanie Abecassis of the University of Hawaii.

Ignore the fact the observations didn't match their expectations...their models were accurate because they got the vector right (give me a break):

"The least biologically productive areas of the oceans are expanding much faster than predicted, according to a new study by researchers at NOAA and the University of Hawaii."

If the observations are beyond expectations, they are as of yet unexplained.  The whole man-made global warming theory is based on the fact the atmospheric warming observed can't be explained without including man as a contributing factor.  When man is included and the warming STILL exceeds expectations, the same logic would conclude there are as of yet undiscovered causes to global warming (causes that let me and my fossil fuels off of the hook).

Answer 3

This could be noted by vertical water columns.Caused by salinety or wind.Lots of speculation on the how and why's.But plenty of studies being done.

Here's one link but there are more.

Answer 4

for me,maybe no...the global warming only happen because of the atmosphere..that now became thin and thinner...don't you???

Answer 5

Explain why your web page is in conflict with recent NOAA satellite pictures of surface ocean heat located in the most geologically active area of the "Pacific Ring of Fire".

http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite...

Answer 6

I don't think there's much doubt that global warming is causing 'the desert of the sea' to expand by warming the surface waters.  The issue is with how fast it's happening.

"Scientists studying climate change have predicted this kind of change. But the sea desert has been spreading 10 times faster than climate scientists predicted. So Polovina is a bit cautious — this could be a shorter-term fluctuation, not a permanent change.

"In the next 10 years, maybe it could switch back," he says. "Until we get a much longer time series, we don't know."

If the expansion is happening 10 times faster than predicted and is mainly due to global warming, that's a serious concern, and yet another sign that the IPCC's predictions have been too conservative.