http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/268973_warm04.html Atmospheric circulation over the Pacific Ocean has weakened significantly during the past century, and scientists say the most likely explanation for the shift is human-induced climate change. Although few people have heard of the vast loop of winds known as the Walker Circulation, its effects are felt worldwide -- as disruptive El Niño episodes, seasonal Asian monsoons and the upwelling of cold water from the deep ocean that nourishes marine food chains. "The Walker Circulation is fundamental to climate throughout the globe, and variations in its intensity and structure affect climate across the planet," Gabriel Vecchi of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research said Wednesday. "The scale of this feature is enormous." In the current issue of the British journal Nature, Vecchi and a team of scientists report that the Walker Circulation, which is the source of the trade winds in the tropical Pacific, has weakened by 3.5 percent since the mid-1800s. Most of the weakening has occurred in the past 50 years. Many theoretical studies have suggested that such a change would occur if the world is warming, but the latest research -- based on a half-century of sea-level pressure measurements -- is the first to show that it is actually taking place. "This rate at which the Walker Circulation is weakening appears to be accelerating," Vecchi says. "We don't know what it's going to do, but the scale of this feature is so enormous that it is basic to the structure of the atmosphere. It spans half the globe." One hint of what may be in store lies in the natural shift in weather patterns known as El Niño, which brings devastating droughts to Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Australia, violent winter storms to the U.S. West Coast and a sharp decline in fishing along the Pacific coast of South America. A temporary weakening of the Walker Circulation -- and a slackening of the easterly trade winds -- is one of the key events signaling the onset of a new El Niño. But researchers say any long-term weakening might lead to more frequent, or perhaps even chronic, El Niño-like disruptions across the Pacific basin. _________________________________________ And hippies speaks about Global Warming.. haha.. and the kyoto protocol is useless.. haha What we need is to produce more CO2 into the atmosphere..
Scientists know diddly IMO. They would have better luck picking up toothpicks with there butt cheeks than knowing what's going to happen to the world.
The interesting thing is not was the scientists says, the interesting is that El Nino is weakening. And if El Nino is weakening, the climate of the Western Northern Pacific, US and Canadas westcoast will suffer from colder winters.