Pacific and Atlantic Ocean Halts Global Warming, But Only Temporarily

Studies recently show that the global warming trend is in a bit of a slowdown. However, the scientists have warned that the phenomenon is set to end soon so global warming will continue its course.

Researchers from the Penn State University have come up with a new study that states that the latest slowdown in manmade global warming over the past decade is a 'false pause' and is a direct result of the offsetting by cooling from natural cycles in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans - an effect that will reverse in coming decades and see increase in global temperatures.

"We know that it is important to distinguish between human-caused and natural climate variability so we can assess the impact of human-caused climate change on a variety of phenomena including drought and weather extremes," Michael Mann from Penn State, who led the study, said in a statement. "The North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans appear to be drivers of substantial natural, internal climate variability on timescales of decades."

According to calculations made separately during another work by Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, and one of the paper's three authors,  global warming would rise to two degrees Celsius by 2036 (compared with preindustrial levels). Even if the hiatus were to persist, Earth surface temperatures would still reach these levels by 2046. His work is summarized in the graph below, where Dr. Mann plots temperature rise patterns for various scenarios.