The Blob (Pacific Ocean) the surface waters of the mid-latitude Pacific Ocean flipping from a cold phase to a warm phase in a cycle known as the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO). This poorly-understood change happens at irregular intervals of years or decades. During a warm phase, the west Pacific becomes cooler and part of the eastern ocean warms; during the cool phase, these changes reverse. Scientists believe a cold phase started in the late 1990s and the arrival of the Blob may be the start of the next warm phase. The PDO phases may also be related to the likelihood of El Nino events.
Sea level rise may become more significant in determining island shape and size than sea level rise. Five of the Solomon Islands have disappeared due to the combined effects of sea level rise and stronger trade winds that were pushing water into the Western Pacific. In the case all islands of an island nation become uninhabitable or completely submerged by the sea, the states themselves would also become dissolved. Once this happens, all rights on the surrounding area (sea) are removed. This area can be huge as rights extend to a radius of around the entire island state. Any resources, such as fossil