Ocean Temperature Responsible for Maintaining Cooler Temperature in North America and Drying Other Regions of the Continent

North America has a cooler temperature relative to other countries around the globe. Alongside their geographic location near the icy parts of the northern hemisphere, previous studies confirmed the presence of large ice sheets on the continent. The initial theories suggested that back about 20,000 years ago, these large chunks of ice were responsible for drying other parts of the whole American continent. The ice sheets are theorized to have caused massive storms that hovered towards the south of the landmass, leading to the dryness experienced in both the southwest and the Pacific northwest.

Ocean Temperatures Dictated the Collective Climate of the West

(Photo : Francesco Ungaro from Pexels)

A new study suggests a separate theory on the large distinction between the temperatures of the continent and other parts of the globe. The research implies that the temperatures of the ocean waters surrounding North America were the real reason behind the significant variances of the atmospheric circulation. The study was made possible through the efforts of experts from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences or CIRES. It was concluded in the paper that the precipitation and climate status on the west coast of North America heavily relies on the transitions of temperatures in the oceanic bodies of the Pacific.

Former CIRES scientist and now NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory expert, as well as the principal author of the study Dillon Amaya, said in a PhysOrg report that it is unlikely for a towering ice sheet to simply make its appearance in the regions of North America. However, the expert mentioned that it is possible to change the modern-day climate temperatures in both the southwest and the Pacific northwest once the temperature in the north Pacific ocean dramatically changes. In the study, the expert and their colleagues developed a reliable model based on their gathered data to analyze and define the effects and the present-day changes of the ice sheets that were previously present in the northern hemisphere.

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Last Glacial Maximum: Ice Sheets, Oceanic Temperature, and Sunlight Reflection

During the Last Glacial Maximum, it was determined that the southwest and the Pacific northwest were initially moist and dry, respectively, contrasting their properties today. The examination was supported by the data buried on various geologic evidence on the continent and the initial models that were improvised for the climate study. However, there were still no clear reasons as to why this happened and what caused the shift in the temperature of the consecutive regions.

Ice sheets, according to previous studies, are considered the factor that blocked the climate between the northern hemisphere and other parts of the continent in America. This icy structure managed to control the wintertime storms and other natural climate phenomena to be driven down to the south. However, the latest research noticed another factor aside from the massive ice block.

Based on the new study, the white color feature of the ice had reflected the sunlight to the vast atmospheric regions of the planet, inducing intense thermodynamic impacts to other regions of the continent, the ocean, and to other masses of land overseas. The study was published in the journal Physical Sciences Laboratory, titled "Air-sea coupling shapes North American hydroclimate response to ice sheets during the Last Glacial Maximum."

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