Cal Poly student and faculty researchers, in conjunction with a team on the East Coast, are exploring how climate change is impacting extreme ocean temperatures off California’s Central Coast.
Cal Poly student and faculty researchers, in conjunction with a team on the East Coast, are exploring how climate change is impacting extreme ocean temperatures off California’s Central Coast.
Together with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester Point, the graduate school in marine science for the College of William & Mary, the first-ever study looks at drivers of both marine heat waves and cold spells in the shallow waters along the California coast. The work is investigating conditions that lead to extreme water temperatures. Spikes in warm waters, known as marine heat waves, can be exacerbated by rising global temperatures. On the opposite extreme are prolonged periods of cold waters, known as marine cold spells. In California, varying upwelling patterns significantly influence these coastal water temperature extremes.
The findings were published July 31, in a Nature Scientific Reports article titled “Effects of basin-scale climate modes and upwelling on nearshore marine heatwaves and cold spells in the California Current."
This research provides a better understanding of when, where, and why these extreme marine events occur.
Read more at California Polytechnic State University
Image: Ryan Walter, left, a Cal Poly associate professor of physics with specialization in oceanography, and Michael Dalsin, a Cal Poly physics senior from Minnesota, are collaborating on research to better understand how climate change is impacting extreme ocean temperatures off California’s Central Coast. Their article published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports analyzes California ocean temperature data spanning four decades. (Credit: California Polytechnic State University)
