Nature has regularly occuring phenomenon that you’re able to count on , reprize over days , months , and year . But sometimes , a spanner is thrown in the work and thing start getting interesting .
For 60 years , an atmospheric phenomenon has repeated on a regular basis in the tropic stratosphere . Since 1953 , scientists have observe this quasi - two-year oscillation ( QBO ) in which westerly winds gradually descended and are replaced by easter .
The radiation pattern has been double every 28 month without change , until belated 2015 . As reported in a paper inGeophysical Research Letters , the westerly winds begin to fall as usual but then they all of a sudden rose , blocking the onset of the winds from the east . This Modern configuration held out for about six calendar month until the even normal resumed in July 2016 .
" The quasi - biyearly vibration is the stratosphere ’s Old Faithful , " said lead generator Paul Newman , Chief Scientist for Earth Sciences at NASA ’s Goddard Space Flight Center , in astatement .
" If Old Faithful stopped for a sidereal day , you ’d begin to wonder about what was happening under the ground . "
The detain attack of the oscillation has authoritative result for the ambiance . For instance , the amount of ozone in the tropics changes by about 10 pct depending on the direction the winds are hold up , and the oscillation could also put up to the distribution of ozone in the polar region .
The QBOhas also been linkedwith the wintertime weather in the northern hemisphere . When westerly winds dominate , cold winters encounter in northern Europe and the eastern US , while a modest wintertime in the US and a blotto stormy one in Europe happen if the easter are on top .
Newman and his colleague are now busy figure out what do the alteration in the QBO . They have two hypotheses : either the QBO was affected by the particularlystrong El Niñoof last winter or this might be a consequence of the farsighted - term increase in global temperature cause by anthropogenic mood change .
The scientists are attempt to read if this was a one - off event or more of a “ fink in the coal mine ” , indicating another variety produced by world-wide warming .
