Response of the Arabian Sea to global warming and associated regional climate shift.
The response of the Arabian Sea to global warming is the disruption in the natural decadal cycle in the sea surface temperature (SST) after 1995, followed by a secular warming. The Arabian Sea is experiencing a regional climate-shift after 1995, which is accompanied by a five fold increase in the occurrence of "most intense cyclones". Signatures of this climate-shift are also perceptible over the adjacent landmass of India as: (1) progressively warmer winters, and (2) decreased decadal monsoon rainfall. The warmer winters are associated with a 16-fold decrease in the decadal wheat production after 1995, while the decreased decadal rainfall was accompanied by a decline of vegetation cover and increased occurrence of heat spells. We propose that in addition to the oceanic thermal inertia, the upwelling-driven cooling provided a mechanism that offset the CO(2)-driven SST increase in the Arabian Sea until 1995.
Kumar
S Prasanna
SP
National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403 004, India. prasanna@nio.org
Roshin
Raj P
RP
Narvekar
Jayu
J
Kumar
P K Dinesh
PK
Vivekanandan
E
E
D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis; D055867:Cyclonic Storms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005843:Geography; D017752:Greenhouse Effect; D019156:Indian Ocean; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D011891:Rain; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature; D014908:Triticum / Q000191:economics / Q000254:growth & development
D002245:Carbon Dioxide