Feature Publication Archive
Oxygen (a) and heat (b) content (0-500 meters) from models and data products, the Niño 3.4 index (c), and regression of the oxygen content and the Niño 3.4 index using GOBAI-O2 (d) and the high-resolution (e) and low-resolution (f) CESM models.
Eddebbar, Y.A., E.L. Hoffman, J.D. Sharp, D.B. Whitt, A.C. Subramanian, and S. Stevenson (2026). ENSO-driven variability of oxygen content and distribution in the tropical Pacific. J. Climate, 39(5), 1333-1353. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-25-0476.1
El Niño and La Niña phases in the tropical Pacific Ocean are the major drivers of interannual variability in the region. This includes the oxygen (O2) content of upper ocean waters, with El Niño resulting in higher O2 in the eastern tropical Pacific due to a deepening of the thermocline and reduced upwelling of O2-poor deepwater and lower O2 in the west due to a large-scale shallowing of the thermocline; La Niña phases display the opposite pattern. New research... more »
Frazão, H.C., U. Send, A.J. Sutton, M.D. Ohman, M. Lankhorst, T.R. Martz, and J. Sevadjian (2025). Open ocean versus upwelling regimes: Air-sea CO2 fluxes and pCO2 inter-annual variability in the Southern California Current System. J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 130(7), e2024JC022126. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JC022126
Song, R., T. DeVries, R. Li, A.J. Sutton, U. Send, and H.C. Frazão (2025). High-frequency correlations between winds and pCO2 change the California Coastal Upwelling System from a CO2 sink to a source. Geophys. Res. Lett., 52(14), e2025GL115470. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL115470
Surprising findings from a pair of NOAA buoys show the importance of frequent, long-term observations
While the global ocean has long been recognized as a crucial carbon sink, quantifying the exchange of carbon dioxide (CO2) between the ocean and atmosphere has become one of the most daunting challenges in Earth science. Researchers have labored for decades to capture observations that would help them understand with greater precision how different ocean regions absorb or release carbon.
A pair of recent studies focused on the California Current Ecosystem... more »
Oceanography, Volume 36 (2-3) October 2023
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory: 50 Years of Innovative Research in Oceanography
Fifty years ago, NOAA created a new environmental research laboratory in Seattle with an initial focus on water quality in Puget Sound, and environmental studies of the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea.
Since then, the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory has evolved into one of the world's leading ocean research institutes, specializing in observing ocean conditions from tsunamis to changes in climate and ocean chemistry with the aid of innovative instrumentation and measurement strategies often developed by the lab.
To recognize PMEL's half-century of accomplishments, the... more »
Ballinger, T.J., J.E. Overland, M. Wang, J.E. Walsh, B. Brettschneider, R.L. Thoman, U.S. Bhatt, E. Hanna, I. Hanssen-Bauer, and S.-J. Kim (2023): Surface air temperature, in State of the Climate in 2022, The Arctic. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 104(9), S279–S281, doi: 10.1175/10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0079.1, View online at AMS (external link).
Benestad, R., R.L. Thoman, Jr., J.L. Cohen, J.E. Overland, E. Hanna, G.W.K. Moore, M. Rantanen, G.N. Petersen, and M. Webster (2023): 2022 extreme weather and climate events [Sidebar 5.1] , in State of the Climate in 2022. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 104(9), S285–S287, doi: 10.1175/10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0079.1, View online at AMS (external link).
Johnson, G.C., and R. Lumpkin (2023): Overview. In State of the Climate in 2022, Global Oceans. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 104(9), S152–S153, doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0076.2, View online at AMS (external link).
Johnson, G.C., J.M. Lyman, C. Atkinson, T. Boyer, L. Cheng, J. Gilson, M. Ishii, R. Locarnini, A. Mishonov, S.G. Purkey, J. Reagan, and K. Sato (2023): Ocean heat content. In State of the Climate in 2022, Global Oceans. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 104(9), S159–S162, doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0076.2, View online at AMS (external link).
Johnson, G.C., J. Reagan, J.M. Lyman, T. Boyer, C. Schmid, and R. Locarnini (2023): Salinity. In State of the Climate in 2022, Global Oceans. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 104(9), S163–S167, doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0076.2, View online at AMS (external link).
McPhaden, M.J. (2023): The 2020-22 Triple Dip La Niña, in State of the Climate in 2022, Global Oceans [Sidebar 3.1]. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 104(9), S157–S158, doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0076.2, View online at AMS (external link).
Sharp, J. (2023): Tracking global ocean oxygen content, in State of the Climate in 2022, Global Oceans [Sidebar 3.2]. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 104(9), S189–S190, doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0076.2, View online at AMS (external link).
Wanninkhof, R., J.A. Triñanes, P. Landschützer, R.A. Feely, and B.R. Carter (2023): Global ocean carbon cycle. In State of the Climate in 2022, Global Oceans. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 104(9), S191–S195, doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0076.2, View online at AMS (external link).
Wen, C., P.W. Stackhouse, J. Garg, P.P. Xie, L. Zhang, and M.F. Cronin (2023): Global ocean heat, freshwater, and momentum fluxes, in State of the Climate in 2022. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 104(9), S168–S172, doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0076.2, View online at AMS (external link).
The year 2022 was marked by unusual (though not unprecedented) disruptions in the climate system including a “triple-dip” La Niña nearly continuous from August 2020 through the end of 2022, extraordinary amount of precipitation over Antarctica in 2022 and the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai underwater volcano eruption in January. Greenhouse gas concentrations, global sea... more »
Ballinger, T.J., J.E. Overland, R.L. Thoman, M. Wang, M.A. Webster, L.N. Boisvert, C.L. Parker, U.S. Bhatt, B. Brettschneider, E. Hanna, I. Hanssen-Bauer, S.-J. Kim, and J.E. Walsh (2022). Surface air temperature, in State of the Climate in 2021, The Arctic. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 103(8), S264–S267.
Meier, W. N., D. Perovich, S. Farrell, C. Haas, S. Hendricks, A. Petty, M. Webster, D. Divine, S. Gerland, L. Kaleschke, R. Ricker, A. Steer, X. Tian-Kunze, M. Tschudi, and K. Wood (2022). Sea ice, in State of the Climate in 2021”, The Arctic. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 103 (8), S270–S273.
Feely, R.A., and R. Wanninkhof (2022). Sidebar: IPCC AR6 Assessment of the role of the oceans in the carbon cycle. In State of the Climate in 2021, Global Oceans. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 103(8), S178-S179.
Johnson, G.C., and R. Lumpkin (2022). Overview. In State of the Climate in 2021, Global Oceans. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 103(8), S149.
Johnson, G.C., J.M. Lyman, T. Boyer, L. Cheng, J. Gilson, M. Ishii, R.E. Killick, and S.G. Purkey (2022). Ocean heat content. In State of the Climate in 2021, Global Oceans. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 103(8), S153-S157.
Johnson, G.C., J. Reagan, J.M. Lyman, T. Boyer, C. Schmid, and R. Locarnini (2022). Salinity. In State of the Climate in 2021, Global Oceans. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 103(8), S157-S162.
Greenhouse gas concentrations, global sea levels and ocean heat content reached record highs in 2021, according to the 32nd annual State of the Climate report, despite a double-dip La Niña event taking place in the Pacific Ocean.
Ocean climate change,
varies with La Niña, yet, ... more »