TUCSON, Ariz. — Several researchers are diving into the ocean to track our temperatures here in the desert, following the hottest summer on record in Phoenix. The group out of the University of Arizona is using robots to get a deeper look at our global waters.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Los arizonenses usan robots en océano cerca de Antártica para pronosticar mejor el tiempo en el desierto
Ocean robots and other instruments are being deployed near Antarctica to better understand the carbon, heat and nutrient systems in the Southern Ocean. That’s important for Arizonans because it helps save lives when the extreme heat hits, plus energy planning, preparing our homes for intense temperatures and more.
New funding is behind the push to track ocean temperatures in the next three years. University of Arizona researchers are teaming up on the project. The Scripps Institute of Oceanography said this new phase is focusing on longer-term trends. Scripps experts said improvements in climate modeling require ocean observations below the sea surface and throughout the Southern Ocean.
This is important because the ocean plays a big role in regulating climate, the U of A's Dr. Joellen Russell said. It stores excess carbon from human sources and heat. The Southern Ocean, is responsible for half the total ocean capture of carbon dioxide, making it beneficial to the world but also susceptible to warming and ice melt. Dr. Russell said her teams are trying to improve climate modeling predictions.
“We're breaking more and more heat records in the summer and in weirder times, like earlier in May and later in September, it's very you know the number of 100-degree days, we break those records as well," Russell said. "So understanding how much heat is being taken up gives us a direct information on how hot it's going to be this summer because what the ocean doesn't take up, is what we're stuck with.”
Experts say improving climate modeling will improve our temperature forecasting and precipitation outlooks. New grant funding is supporting new ocean robot observations and a new way to examine all of the measurements they’re taking at once to make this happen.
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