Signatures of global warming and regional climate shift in the Arabian Sea

Prasanna Kumar, S and Roshin, R P and Narvekar, Jayu and Dinesh Kumar, P K and Vivekanandan, E (2010) Signatures of global warming and regional climate shift in the Arabian Sea. In: Climate Change and Aquatic Ecosystems. Cochin University of Science and Technology, pp. 55-62.

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Abstract

The impact of global warming in the recent decade is shown by the disruption in the natural decadal cycle in the sea surface temperature (SST) of the Arabian Sea after 1995. We propose a regional climate shift after 1995, the signature of which is perceptible over the adjacent landmass of India, as decreased decadal monsoon rainfall and in the Arabian Sea as increase in phytoplankton biomass. The decrease in rainfall after 1995 was linked to the increase in the Eurasian winter snow cover. The increased phytoplankton biomass during fall and winter is attributed to the iron-fertilization driven by enhanced dust-delivery under this regional climate shift. Finally, it is shown that the increased fish (oil-sardine) catch in the eastern and western Arabian Sea after 1995 is also tightly coupled to the increased phytoplankton biomass.

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