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| Hilo, Hawaii News, Sports, & Information |
Tuesday, February 9, 2010 |
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Posted: Friday, September 14th, 2007 5:09 AM HST
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Marine debris linked to El Nino
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HONOLULU (AP) _ A new study says significantly more marine debris washes ashore in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands during El Nino periods than during La Nina conditions.
El Nino is a major warming of the equatorial waters in the Pacific Ocean. La Nina is the opposite _ a cooling of the Pacific's equatorial waters.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the 16-year study is the first to document the influence of El Nino and La Nina on marine debris in the islands.
According to the study, the increase in marine debris is associated with the southward movement of the Subtropical Convergence Zone, an area in the North Pacific where two ocean currents meet.
(Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved)
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