Science Cafe: The Madden-Julian Oscillation

Topic: The Madden-Julian Oscillation and the great tropical frontier

​ Understanding atmospheric motions in the tropical latitudes is of great importance for our understanding of global weather and climate. However, understanding these motions have proven to be a great challenge for researchers for many decades. To further our difficulties, several tropical phenomena exist whose inner workings and evolution have remained elusive. The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is one such phenomenon. The MJO is often described as a collection of thunderstorms several thousand kilometers across, which slowly propagate eastward across the Indian Ocean towards the Pacific Ocean. Like the more well-known El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the MJO has profound impacts on global weather when it is active, and affects the weather in the Pacific Northwest. Despite many challenges, a theory for the MJO is emerging that is succeeding in representing its properties, and meteorologists are becoming more optimistic that we are closing the gap on one of the tropic’s most challenging phenomena.