Neil Holbrook (IMAS, University of Tasmania, Australia):
Characterising the Indo-Pacific Ocean in a changing climate
Abstract
Over recent decades, the Indian Ocean has been warming at a relatively rapid rate compared with the oceans in other basins, and the South Pacific Gyre has intensified causing the East Australian Current to extend further southwards.
On interannual time scales, El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole dominate the climates of Indo-Pacific Ocean Rim countries and islands. Most dominant, however, ENSO-related temporal and distribution changes are observed throughout the Indo-Pacific Ocean, including changes to ocean temperatures, heat content, Australian coastal sea level and regional tropical cyclones, rainfall, and Indo-Pacific net primary productivity. While recent observations suggest there has been a shift in ENSO-type characteristics over the past few decades, Pacific decadal variability itself has a modulating effect on ENSO.
This talk will synthesise some of Neil and his team’s recent research findings associated with Indo-Pacific Ocean interannual to multi-decadal variability and trends in temperature, heat content, sea level and chlorophyll based on remote sensed and in situ observations, ocean reanalysis data, and model simulations. Specifically, he will discuss ocean climate changes and dynamic linkages observed across the Indo-Pacific Ocean in recent times.