Very cold East Coast and Dry West Coast conditions are associated with the increasing temperatures in the Pacific, rather than the melting status of the Arctic, scientists said.
A vast warm water blob that has been dormant for 18 months has become part of a significantly larger pattern of why California is experiencing drought, New England is making records for blizzards, and Washington is out snow for its ski resorts. Researchers from Seattle don't believe that global warming should be blamed. This puts them in contradiction with those who think that Arctic melting's effect on the polar vortex is what should be considered as the culprit.
Nick Bond, a client scientist from the University of Washington, came-up with the term "blob" to describe the pooling water in offshore during the 2013 fall, 7 degrees Fahrenheit in temperature. Until today, it still exists, stretching from Mexico to Alaska, hundreds of miles wide.
The average temperature is now more than 3 degrees above what is set as "normal," and researches have predicted that the anomaly will continue all through the year.
In the Geophysical Research Letters, Bond along with this colleagues, concluded that the blob has drastically altered the marine ecosystem in numerous ways, decreasing its nutrient levels and triggering influx of tropical species and sunfishes. It has even contributed to seabird starvation in Oregon and Washington during winter, the Seattle Times reported.
Bond said "For a lot of critters it turns out to be bad news. Warm water is not as favorable for many organisms."
The researchers were able to discover that the existence of the blob has, also, influenced the Northwestern weather by humidifying onshore flows and meager snowfall.