Tropical Warm Pool

The Tropical Western Pacific waters hold the ocean's warmest waters. This area is also referred to as the Western Pacific Warm Pool, which is a part of the larger Indo-Pacific Warm Pool. Its intensity and extent appear to oscillate over a time period measured in decades. == Climate change effects ==

Diagram The Indo-Pacific warm pool has been warming rapidly and expanding during the recent decades, largely from climate change in response to increased carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning. The warm pool nearly doubled in size, from an area of 22 million km2 during 1900–1980, to an area of 40 million km2 during 1981–2018; however, latest research suggests that this expansion rate may be overestimated. This expansion of the warm pool has allowed more cyclones as well as altered global rainfall patterns and variations by changing the life cycle of the Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO), which is the most dominant mode of weather fluctuation originating in the tropics. This oscillation is showcased by eastward movement of suppressed tropical rainfall, specifically over the Pacific and Indian Oceans. == Intertropical Convergent Zone ==

The Hadley circulation's ascending branch includes the Intertropical Convergent Zone (ITCZ), a narrow tropical area of wind convergence and maximal surface moist static energy. Significant seasonal variations in the local SST are caused by variations in the monsoonal activity, which impact the wind direction and intensity over the IPWP. In particular, the seasonal reversal of the monsoonal winds affects the Indian Ocean sector of the IPWP, which includes the Timor, Arafura, and Banda Seas. This results in the upwelling of colder waters by Ekman transport. ==See also==