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Environment

Something strange is happening in the Pacific and we must find out why

Unexpectedly, the eastern Pacific Ocean is cooling. If this 鈥渃old tongue鈥 continues, it could reduce greenhouse gas warming by 30 per cent 鈥 but also bring megadrought to the US

By Madeleine Cuff

1 August 2023

最新麻豆视频. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

The Pacific “cold tongue”, an area of ocean that stretches West from Ecuador is cooler than expected

Harvepino/shutterstock

FOR years, climate models have predicted that as greenhouse gas emissions rise, ocean waters will warm. For the most part, they have been correct. Yet in a patch of the Pacific Ocean, the opposite is happening. Stretching west from the coast of Ecuador for thousands of kilometres lies a tentacle of water that has been cooling for the past 30 years. Why is this swathe of the eastern Pacific defying our predictions? Welcome to the mystery of the cold tongue.

This isn’t…

Article amended on 1 March 2024

We clarified the location of the Pacific cold tongue

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