Expanse of warm water dubbed the blob consumes North Pacific

[n2doc]

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Weird things are happening off the Pacific Coast.

And at the center of the action is a warm-water mass that scientists call "the blob."

It's turning the coastal ecosystem on its head. Species are dying along Washington, Oregon and northern California: sea stars, marine birds and sardines, among them.

It started in the fall of 2013 when the Gulf of Alaska's usual winter storms didn't show up to cool down the Pacific.

That gave rise to an expanse of warmer water, according to Bill Peterson of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

And it has spread. By last summer the blob had consumed the entire North Pacific from California to Canada. A few months later it had touched the West Coast shore. Now it spans 2,000 miles from Baja, Mexico to Alaska, stretching 500 miles wide.

more

http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Expanse-of-warm-water-dubbed-the-blob-consumes-6420212.php#photo-6844170

[Faux pas]

1. Yikes!

That explains why the Oregon coast is so miserable right now. Hot and dry just like SoCal. That's not why I moved here.

[Gregorian]

2. I'm almost on the beach, and I've never known the coast to stay warm at night.

I've lived near the coast almost 60 years, and this has been a real awakening. It's the new climate, I believe. It used to be 52 degrees F every single night without fail. Now it's up nearly ten degrees on many occasions.

I was on the coast of Oregon for two years, but found the barren, smouldering, clearcut mountains too much, and came back to the overcrowded state of CA. No refuge.

[Faux pas]

3. I live

just outside Lincoln City. Before the heat started, snow started about 6 yrs ago. Now we get both. It's not barren here yet...

[jalan48]

4. I'm in the Willamette. We've had four days of 100, plus hot weather in June.

It's a different place than the one I moved to decades ago.