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 of the climate system. Of course, when the ocean gains heat the water expands and this represents a component of global sea-level rise. The thermal expansion of water increases with temperature and pressure of the water. Hence, cold Arctic Ocean water will expand less for a given increase in temperature compared to warm tropical water. Because different climate models have slightly different patterns of ocean heating, they do not agree fully on the predictions for the contribution of ocean heating on sea level rise. The large volume of ice on the Antarctic continent stores around 70% of the world's fresh