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CLIMATE CHANGE OSU researchers studying warm-water mass off West Coast Comment By Dan Dietz The Register-Guard MailTribune.com By Dan Dietz The Register-Guard Posted Jul. 1, 2015 at 3:47 PM By Dan Dietz The Register-Guard Posted Jul. 1, 2015 at 3:47 PM » Social News EUGENE — Oregon State University scientists are looking for a link between the California drought, climate change and a mass of warm water lingering in the Pacific Ocean off the West Coast. The events may be without connection — but the blob and the drought, which is troubling Oregon, too, have one thing in common: They are extreme. In recorded history, California hasn't seen a dry spell as severe as the past four years. The mass of warm water in the ocean — hundreds of miles wide and about as long as California — has average temperatures that are 5 degrees to 7 degrees warmer than normal, Washington climatologist Nick Bond said. "We're in, if not uncharted territory, pretty near it. It is an extreme sort of thing," he said. OSU scientists are joining with others at Oxford University, who work with scientists from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute and the University of Melbourne in Australia to examine extreme weather and to determine their connection, if any, with climate change. The teams are relying on the excess computing power of 30,000 home computers volunteered by their owners — and they're looking for other would-be citizen scientists to join in. Bond identified the mass of warm water — seen as a red-orange pool on climate maps — in late 2013, and it has persisted since. "We can keep track of sea surface temperatures quite well by satellites," Bond said. While the images were telling one story, anecdotes from the ocean — of marine ecosystem disruption — came trickling in. Seabirds called Cassin's auklets starved this winter off Washington and Oregon. Northwest fishers reported strange species in their nets, skipjack tuna or ocean sunfish, which would be more likely along the coast of Baja, California. Last fall's run of Fraser River sockeye salmon veered north around Vancouver Island. The Canadian fishery had a banner year and the U.S. fishers went home with empty holds. Scientists are documenting an unprecedented West Coast-wide marine algae bloom this year. The bloom poisons shellfish, causing authorities to shut down harvests. In mid-June, thousands of red crabs washed ashore in Southern California. In each case, researchers wondered about whether the warm-water mass was a factor. Air temperatures can fluctuate up and down rapidly, but change comes more slowly to the ocean, Bond said. "There's so much thermal inertia that a seven degree anomaly is very large," Bond said. "Once you get the water so much warmer — or so much colder — than normal, there's some persistence to it." The OSU scientists are working with counterparts around the globe to speed up research on extreme weather events — flood, blizzard, drought, heat waves, wind storms — to better determine the likelihood that any event is associated with climate change. By Dan Dietz The Register-Guard MailTribune.com By Dan Dietz The Register-Guard Posted Jul. 1, 2015 at 3:47 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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