Marine experts still puzzled by 'warm pool'

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian and foreign scientists said yesterday that they are still puzzled by the "warm pool" phenomena found in the Pacific Ocean that has altered climatic conditions in the region in recent years.

What is certain so far is that land and water areas close to the "warm pool" region experience prolonged rainy seasons, floods, a decline in fish production and a rise in agriculture production.

On the contrary, land and water areas far from such a region experience prolonged drought, forest fires and rising fish production, said M.T. Zen, a deputy chairman of the Indonesian Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology.

Zen was one of the speakers at the workshop on studies in sea currents in and around Indonesian waters which was jointly organized by the agency and Japan Marine Science and Technology Center.

Around 100 marine experts from Indonesia, Japan, the United States, Australia, Britain, France and the Netherlands took part in the two-day discussion to discuss recent research on oceanic current in Indonesian waters. The discussion closed yesterday.

Whatever causes this phenomena, the experts agree that it is linked to the El Nino Southern Oscillation.

Japan Marine Science and Technology Center director Masataka Hishida said the warm pool is an oceanic current that moves along the equator in the Pacific Ocean, starting at the west coast of South America to the Indonesian archipelago, and then returning to South America.

"But how it (the warm pool) is formed or what factors formed it still need further studies and research," Hishida said, citing that the marine center and the Japanese Meteorological Agency has conducted a study on the warm pool since 1993.

Zen said a recent research by international marine experts made significant progress in the warm pool studies.

The study found warm pool regions, where temperatures are higher than the waters around them, occurring around Banda Island, the Makassar Strait and in waters south of Java and Nusa Tenggara islands. (rms)