Faculty Research Fellow Bruce Anderson Discovers Ocean/Atmosphere Climate Variation Spanning Entire North Pacific

Bruce Anderson, a Professor in the Department of Earth & Environment and a Faculty Research Fellow at the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, has published a new paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research in which he details his discovery of a new ocean/atmosphere climate variation in the northern Pacific Ocean, similar to the equatorial El Niño–Southern Oscillation phenomenon.

The newly-discovered climate variation, which Prof. Anderson named the Ebessan/Pacific Precession (EPP) in honor of the Japanese god of fishing, spans the entire North Pacific, and is sustained and energized by air-sea interactions unique to the mid- and high-latitudes. It gives rise to extreme heat waves and cold spells across North America, and induces droughts and increased precipitation in the western US and Great Plains. It also directly impacts marine environments, including those in the tropical Pacific, the Kuroshio and Oyashio current systems, the Gulf of Alaska, and the California current system.

The EPP is the second phenomenon named by Prof. Anderson, the other being the Trade Wind Charging (TWC) mechanism, which is the most prominent driver of El Niño and La Niña events outside of the equatorial Pacific.

Download the paper here.