Observed Global Increases in Tropical Cyclone-Induced Ocean Cooling and Primary Production

Details

• Journal Title:
  Geophysical Research Letters
• Personal Author:
  Da, Nguyen Dac ; Foltz, Gregory R. ; Balaguru, Karthik
• NOAA Program & Office:
  OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; AOML (Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory) ; CIMAS (Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies)
• Description:
  Tropical cyclones provide an important source of ocean mixing, bringing cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface and triggering phytoplankton blooms. Here, we show significant increases in global tropical cyclone-induced sea surface temperature cooling and surface chlorophyll-a concentration of 0.05°C and 3.7 × 10−3 mg m−3 per decade over the past 20–35 years. The trends have been driven primarily by an increase in the intensity of strong tropical cyclones. The increase in chlorophyll-a concentration has been, on average, 1.6% per decade in oligotrophic areas during the tropical cyclone season, in contrast to a decrease of 0.1% per decade during the other months. This tropical cyclone-induced increase has partially mitigated the overall decline in primary production under climate change.
• Keywords:
  Cyclones—Tropics Chlorophyll‐a Global Warming Ocean Stratification Primary Production SST Cooling Tropical Cyclone
• Source:
  Geophysical Research Letters, 48(9)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL092574
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  Grant no. NA17OAR4310155
• Rights Information:
  Other
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:e7a61d9bdf80c62fa1ec5d97c70cb83b1464ac924778c777e08e269d0f8c3e0f
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/29580/noaa_29580_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 967.98 KB ]