A Likely Suspect for Waning Currents
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Climatologists reported in the journal Nature this week a likely new victim of global warming: the vast looping system of air currents that fuels Pacific trade winds and climate from South America to Indonesia.
This could mean more El Nino-like weather patterns in the U.S., more rain in the western Pacific and less nourishment for marine life along the equator and off the South American coast.
Known as the Walker circulation, the system has weakened by 3.5% over the last 140 years.
