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Observed Global Increases in Tropical Cyclone‐Induced Ocean Cooling and Primary Production
Author(s) -
Da Nguyen Dac,
Foltz Gregory R.,
Balaguru Karthik
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2021gl092574
Subject(s) - tropical cyclone , environmental science , climatology , sea surface temperature , tropical cyclone rainfall forecasting , tropics , african easterly jet , oceanography , phytoplankton , atmospheric sciences , cyclone (programming language) , nutrient , tropical wave , geology , biology , ecology , field programmable gate array , fishery , computer science , computer hardware
Tropical cyclones provide an important source of ocean mixing, bringing cold, nutrient‐rich water to the surface and triggering phytoplankton blooms. Here, we show significant increases in global tropical cyclone‐induced sea surface temperature cooling and surface chlorophyll‐a concentration of 0.05°C and 3.7 × 10 −3 mg m −3 per decade over the past 20–35 years. The trends have been driven primarily by an increase in the intensity of strong tropical cyclones. The increase in chlorophyll‐a concentration has been, on average, 1.6% per decade in oligotrophic areas during the tropical cyclone season, in contrast to a decrease of 0.1% per decade during the other months. This tropical cyclone‐induced increase has partially mitigated the overall decline in primary production under climate change.