The Western Pacific Has Continued Cooling Since The Little Ice Age Ended

A new study suggests the modern (1994-2004) surface temperatures in the South China Sea are colder now than any time in the last 6000 years.

Except for a brief interval ~500 years ago, SSTs have been consistently 2-4°C warmer than today since the middle Holocene in the South China Sea (Zhou et al., 2021).

the western pacific has continued cooling since the little ice age ended

Image Source: Zhou et al., 2021

This is consistent with many other studies in the western Pacific which also show a “decreasing SST trend” since the end of the Little Ice Age (He et al., 2019).

the western pacific has continued cooling since the little ice age ended 1

Image Source: He et al., 2019

Another new study shows there has been no net warming in the climatically important Western Pacific Warm Pool region since 1985 (Mohtar et al., 2021).

the western pacific has continued cooling since the little ice age ended 2

Image Source: Mohtar et al., 2021

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