Continuing the trail from Lost At Sea: The North Pacific Gyre Oscillation.

Since 1945, fishermen in the California current of the Pacific Ocean have been tracking temperature, salinity and nutrients, among other things, in the ocean to help them predict changes in fish populations like sardines and anchovies that are important for the industry. Studying this data, along with satellite images, Di Lorenzo discovered a pattern of current that he named the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation.

Recent satellite data suggest that this current is undergoing intensification as the temperature of the Earth has risen over the past few decades.

"Although the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation is part of a natural cycle of the climate system, we find evidence suggesting that its amplitude may increase as global warming progresses," said Di Lorenzo.

If this is true, this newly found climate pattern may help scientists predict how the ecosystem of the Pacific Ocean is likely to change if the world continues to warm, as predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

This is a very short term study, especially since we already know of oscillations in the region (PDO) that have periods longer than the length of this study, so it's reaching to claim that a trend has been observed. Still, it's one more tool in the kit for practical application, and if further study can link the various oscillations over longer time periods we might begin to have some predictive capability.