At first sight, it stands out as a swollen thumb, this purplish stain on the map. It’s one of the few locations on earth that is unusually cold during the year, and will most probably be the coldest on a global scale.
The so-called ‘Patch of the Atlantic’ is a big area in the North Atlantic Sea and it’s experiencing a steep cooling trend. The ocean surface is colder than usual, at some points colder than ever before. Scientists started to realize of its development through the course of two years. This cooling in the Atlantic is completely opposite to the warming of the Pacific. Most of the increase in temperature is attributed to ‘El Niño’, a natural process in which warm water circulates above the Central Pacific Sea and goes all the way to South America. Although, Scientists can’t fully explain what we now call the Patch of the Pacific.
This intense warming process over enormous areas through the Pacific has fed a season of way-above-the-average number of hurricanes through the Pacific. It could have also added to the California draught, the impacts of the Salmon industry, and would even explain the tropical sharks that have been found in northern waters.
The cold patch of the Atlantic is close to Greenland, which means that such cold temperatures so far north are not common. These reports, even though are not scandalous enough to make it in a movie plot, are still pretty bad. The loss of even circulation in the ocean could lead to drastic changes. Consequently, the increase of sea levels could threaten coastal cities around the world.