Co-Convenors:
Bill Peterson (USA)
Lisa Eisner (USA)
Tony Koslow (USA)
Invited Speakers:
Nicholas Bond (University of Washington, USA)
Emanuele Di Lorenzo (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)
Major El Niño events in 1982/83 and 1997/98 had massive impacts on the ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean. In spring 2014, computer models were predicting another major El Niño for 2014/15. However, it now appears that the event is weakening (but who knows what the future holds). Despite this, it is perhaps more noteworthy that the entire Pacific north of ~35°N is anomalously warm with SSTs in the Gulf of Alaska that are >4σ above the long-term mean. This warming event appears to be unprecedented, with strong signals in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea, and across the Pacific to Japan, as well as in the Oyashio, the Sea of Okhotsk and coastal waters surrounding Russia, Japan and Korea. Anomalous warming is also seen in the Arctic Ocean, Baffin Bay, the Labrador Sea and much of the far north Atlantic. Key questions to address in this session include what are the atmospheric conditions leading to wide-spread warming, what are the consequences for local weather, and, what are the consequences to ecosystem structure and fisheries? The purpose of this session is to encourage researchers to present evidence of anomalous behaviour in the ecosystems of the North Pacific. We are interested in descriptions of anomalous behaviour in the physical environment, the chemistry of the oceans and the biological impacts of the physical anomalies. The session will be a success if investigators with related stories are brought together to write joint papers describing the evolution and impacts of both the 2014/15 El Niño event as well as anomalous warming of the North Pacific (and perhaps the North Atlantic and adjacent seas).
