# Tropical Warm Pool

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tropical_Warm_Pool
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tropical_Warm_Pool.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Warm_Pool
> Source revision: 1355774224
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Thermal satellite image of worldwide ocean temperatures, with the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool centered.

The **Tropical Warm Pool** (TWP) or **Indo-Pacific Warm Pool** (IPWP) is a mass of ocean water located in the western [Pacific Ocean](/source/Pacific_Ocean) and eastern [Indian Ocean](/source/Indian_Ocean) which consistently exhibits the highest water temperatures over the largest expanse of the Earth's surface.[1] Climate change and the [Intertropical Convergence Zone](/source/Intertropical_Convergence_Zone) have been increasingly affecting the warming of the IPWP.[2][3]

## History

The Tropical Western Pacific waters hold the ocean's warmest waters.[3] This area is also referred to as the Western Pacific Warm Pool, which is a part of the larger Indo-Pacific Warm Pool.[3] Annual sea surface temperatures in this area reach above 28 degrees celsius.[3] As a result of higher sea surface temperatures, the IPWP is a source of warm moisture. Ultimately leading to heavy local rainfall.[3] High water temperatures are due to seasonal changes in precipitation along the path of the [Great Ocean Conveyor Belt](/source/Ocean_conveyor_belt), from the western Pacific Ocean across the [Indonesian Archipelago](/source/Indonesian_Archipelago) into the eastern Indian Ocean.[4] Its intensity and extent appear to oscillate over a time period measured in decades.[5]

## Climate change effects

[Madden-Julian Oscillation](/source/Madden-Julian_Oscillation) Diagram

The Indo-Pacific warm pool has been warming rapidly and expanding during the recent decades, largely from [climate change](/source/Climate_change) in response to increased [carbon emissions](/source/Carbon_emissions) from [fossil fuel](/source/Fossil_fuel) burning.[2] The warm pool nearly doubled in size, from an area of 22 million km2 during 1900–1980, to an area of 40 million km2 during 1981–2018;[6] however, latest research suggests that this expansion rate may be overestimated.[7] This expansion of the warm pool has allowed more [cyclones](/source/Cyclone) as well as altered global rainfall patterns and variations by changing the life cycle of the [Madden Julian Oscillation](/source/Madden_Julian_Oscillation) (MJO), which is the most dominant mode of weather fluctuation originating in the tropics.[6][8] This oscillation is showcased by eastward movement of suppressed tropical rainfall, specifically over the Pacific and Indian Oceans.[9]

## Intertropical Convergent Zone

Intertropical Convergence Zone across the globe, with emphasis on January-July [10]

The Hadley circulation's ascending branch includes the [Intertropical Convergent Zone](/source/Intertropical_Convergence_Zone) (ITCZ), a narrow tropical area of wind convergence and maximal surface moist static energy.[3] The Asian-Australian [monsoons](/source/Monsoon) are caused by the rainbelt's latitudinal migration and the winds that accompany it.[3][11] Significant seasonal variations in the local SST are caused by variations in the monsoonal activity, which impact the wind direction and intensity over the IPWP.[3] In particular, the seasonal reversal of the monsoonal winds affects the Indian Ocean sector of the IPWP, which includes the [Timor](/source/Timor_Sea), [Arafura](/source/Arafura_Sea), and [Banda Seas](/source/Banda_Sea).[3][11] This results in the upwelling of colder waters by [Ekman transport](/source/Ekman_transport).[3][11]

## See also

- [Maritime Continent](/source/Maritime_Continent)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [USGS News Release Jan. 28, 2011](https://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article_pf.asp?ID=2690)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:2_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:2_2-1) Weller, Evan; Min, Seung-Ki; Cai, Wenju; Zwiers, Francis W.; Kim, Yeon-Hee; Lee, Donghyun (2016-07-01). ["Human-caused Indo-Pacific warm pool expansion"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4942332). *Science Advances*. **2** (7) e1501719. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2016SciA....2E1719W](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016SciA....2E1719W). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1126/sciadv.1501719](https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fsciadv.1501719). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [2375-2548](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/2375-2548). [PMC](/source/PMC_(identifier)) [4942332](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4942332). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [27419228](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27419228).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:02_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:02_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:02_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:02_3-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-:02_3-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-:02_3-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-:02_3-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-:02_3-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-:02_3-8) [***j***](#cite_ref-:02_3-9) Moffa‐Sanchez, Paola; Rosenthal, Yair; Babila, Tali L.; Mohtadi, Mahyar; Zhang, Xu (2019). ["Temperature Evolution of the Indo‐Pacific Warm Pool Over the Holocene and the Last Deglaciation"](https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2018PA003455). *Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology*. **34** (7): 1107–1123. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1029/2018PA003455](https://doi.org/10.1029%2F2018PA003455). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [2572-4517](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/2572-4517).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:1_4-0)** De Deckker, Patrick (2016-06-29). ["The Indo-Pacific Warm Pool: critical to world oceanography and world climate"](https://doi.org/10.1186/s40562-016-0054-3). *Geoscience Letters*. **3** (1): 20. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1186/s40562-016-0054-3](https://doi.org/10.1186%2Fs40562-016-0054-3). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [2196-4092](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/2196-4092).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [NASA: "Reverberations of the Pacific Warm Pool"](https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WarmPool/)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_6-1) Roxy, M. K.; Dasgupta, Panini; McPhaden, Michael J.; Suematsu, Tamaki; Zhang, Chidong; Kim, Daehyun (November 2019). ["Twofold expansion of the Indo-Pacific warm pool warps the MJO life cycle"](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1764-4). *Nature*. **575** (7784): 647–651. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2019Natur.575..647R](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019Natur.575..647R). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/s41586-019-1764-4](https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41586-019-1764-4). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1476-4687](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1476-4687). [OSTI](/source/OSTI_(identifier)) [1659516](https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1659516). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [31776488](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31776488). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [208329374](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:208329374).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Leung, Jeremy Cheuk-Hin; Zhang, Banglin; Gan, Qiuying; Wang, Lei; Qian, Weihong; Hu, Zeng-Zhen (2022-11-24). ["Differential expansion speeds of Indo-Pacific warm pool and deep convection favoring pool under greenhouse warming"](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-022-00315-w). *npj Climate and Atmospheric Science*. **5** (1): 1–15. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/s41612-022-00315-w](https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41612-022-00315-w). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [2397-3722](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/2397-3722).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Warm pool expansion warps MJO – Climate Research Lab, CCCR, IITM"](https://www.climate.rocksea.org/research/warm-pool-expansion-warps-mjo/). Retrieved 2019-11-29.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Madden–Julian oscillation"](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Madden%E2%80%93Julian_oscillation&oldid=1342486601), *Wikipedia*, 2026-03-09, retrieved 2026-03-21

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["File:ITCZ january-july.png - Wikipedia"](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ITCZ_january-july.png). *commons.wikimedia.org*. 2006-12-13. Retrieved 2026-04-13.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:12_11-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:12_11-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:12_11-2) Qu, Tangdong; Meyers, Gary (2005-02-01). ["Seasonal Characteristics of Circulation in the Southeastern Tropical Indian Ocean*"](http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/10.1175/JPO-2682.1). *Journal of Physical Oceanography*. **35** (2): 255–267. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1175/JPO-2682.1](https://doi.org/10.1175%2FJPO-2682.1). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1520-0485](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1520-0485).

This climatology-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

- [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Climatology-stub)
- [t](/source/Template_talk%3AClimatology-stub)
- [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Climatology-stub)

This meteorology–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

- [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Meteorology-stub)
- [t](/source/Template_talk%3AMeteorology-stub)
- [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Meteorology-stub)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tropical Warm Pool](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Warm_Pool) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Warm_Pool?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.