Have you heard of the Blob?

Scientists are currently observing two unprecedented climate events...

The Blob

The first is something known as The Blob, an area of ocean between Hawaii and Alaska. This area is seeing a dramatic rise in sea surface temperature caused by the global warming, more than 90% of which as we know, goes to warming the oceans (See https://skepticalscience.com/graphics.php?g=65)

This Blob has caused Coral Reef Watch to issue a mass coral bleaching warning (See https://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/product/5km/index_5km_baa_max_r07d.php)

The result of this heating event is expected to have devastating consequences (See this from the Washington Post The ‘Blob’ is surging back in the Pacific, leading to fears of mass die-offs of marine life and unusual weather patterns

SSW

In the Southern Hemisphere (yes that’s us) starting late August and intensifying, with some predictions indicting it will last until late October, is an event known as Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) which occurs with some regularity in the Northern Hemisphere, but is extremely rare in the Southern Hemisphere. It has only been observed once before, in 2002. (See https://watchers.news/2019/08/22/southern-hemisphere-sudden-stratospheric-warming-2019/)

This current event is set to dwarf the 2002 event both in temperature rise and duration. Basically every winter, westerly winds, often up to 200km/h, develop in the stratosphere above the South Pole. As the South Pole starts to warm in August/September it causes these winds to weaken over the period of a few months.

This time, the weakening has happened very quickly as warm air from the troposphere has rapidly warmed the stratosphere causing the westerly winds to *reverse* and become easterly. The impact of this shift will be felt in the months to come. (Take a look at this explainer from Climate System Scientist Paul Beckwith)

Basically this means that any region sitting north of the main belt of westerlies normally experience reduced rainfall and hotter temperatures, as is happening in Australia at the moment. What can we in South Africa expect over the next few months? We will see, but it’s likely going to be a similar scenario to Australia.

Climate change impacts, sometimes happening rapidly as a result of events like these, are very real and will happen with greater frequency as continue to force CO2 in unprecedented levels into the atmosphere.

South Africa is bracing for impact:

“Climate Change will have direct impacts on South Africa’s natural resources and infrastructure, affecting food security and health, threatening water resources, and impacting on development. These impacts will be especially felt by the poor, as they will be more exposed to them and have fewer resources to cope with these impacts.” (See National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy — Republic of South Africa)

We have not time to lose! We need to stop burning fossil fuels as in yesterday!