Home About Contact Links FAQ top banner ad Special update: The Extraordinary California Drought of 2013-2014: Character, Context, and the Role of Climate Change Filed in Uncategorized by Daniel Swain on September 29, 2014 • 8 Comments Why has the North Pacific/West Coast ridge been so “ridiculously resilient”? Most persistent atmospheric anomalies are ultimately linked to unusual patterns of ocean surface temperature. Indeed, most of the well-known modes of variability in the Pacific region (such as the El Niño/Southern Oscillation [ ENSO ] or the Pacific Decadal Oscillation [ PDO ]) are direct result of changes in sea surface temperature (SST) patterns over time scales ranging from years to decades. SST anomalies can drive persistent atmospheric anomalies because the ocean has a great deal more “thermal memory” than the atmosphere. Since ocean tem...