Word: oceanic
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...computer code," says the climate researcher at California's Scripps Institution of Oceanography. For one thing, the little-known phenomenon his model was predicting had not been witnessed since the mid- 1970s. By last summer, however, Barnett's forecast was borne out by a "monstrous" 7 degreesF plunge in ocean surface temperatures off * equatorial South America. The drop heralded the arrival of a mysterious weather pattern called La Nina, which brings unusually cold temperatures to the eastern Pacific. La Nina has since swept to the center of the climatic stage recently vacated by its better known heat-producing sibling...
...influx of warm water and winds from the western Pacific, El Nino is known to bring heavy winter rains to Peruvian deserts and warm weather to the U.S. West Coast. The two systems make up the extremes of a giant meteorological system called the Southern Oscillation that links the ocean and atmosphere in the Pacific. Normally the system functions as a giant heat pump, distributing energy from the equator to the higher latitudes through storms brewed over the warm western Pacific. In conjunction with the oceans, these climatic patterns affect much of the world's weather, ranging from the monsoon...
...normal conditions of the Southern Oscillation. Because its last occurrence predated sophisticated satellite data gathering, the phenomenon is not very well understood. Scientists do know, however, that during a La Nina, easterly trade winds are stronger, the waters of the eastern Pacific off South America are colder and ocean temperatures in the western equatorial Pacific are warmer than normal. The result: coastal deserts in Peru and Chile become even drier than normal, and the subcontinent is inundated by heavier-than-usual rainfall and, often, flooding...
...second tournament in a row, the weather was unkind to the Crimson. The tournament was played on two courses, the tougher 'blue' or ocean course (par 72) and the more forgiving 'green' or inland course...
Harvard was forced to play on the ocean Tuesday, fighting high winds coming off the Cape that gusted up to 40 miles per hour...