[1] Evidence for baroclinic tide origin of internal solitary waves (ISWs) in the northeastern South China Sea is presented, based on 116 internal wave packets observed in satellite images from 1995 to 2001. These wave packets can be divided into two types, a single-wave ISW packet containing only one ISW with/without an oscillating tail, and a multiple-wave ISW packet composed of a group of rank-ordered ISWs. All of the 22 single-wave ISW packets occur in the deep water zone. It is suggested that the ISWs, instead of being generated by the lee-wave mechanism, are developed by nonlinear steepening of the baroclinic tides, which are produced by the strong tidal currents flowing over a ridge in Luzon Strait. This suggestion is verified by an ERS-2 SAR image, which records such an evolution process from a baroclinic tide to a single ISW in its spatial domain.

Variabilities in sea-surface temperature and size of the Western Pacific Warm Pool were tracked with 10 years of satellite multichannel sea-surface temperature observations from 1982 to 1991. The results show that both annual mean sea-surface temperature and the size of the warm pool increased from 1983 to 1987 and fluctuated after 1987. Possible causes of these variations include solar irradiance variabilities, EI Niño-Southern Oscillation events, volcanic activities, and global warming.

Global mean surface temperatures (GMST) exhibited a smaller rate of warming during 1998-2013, compared to the warming in the latter half of the 20th Century. Although, not a "true" hiatus in the strict definition of the word, this has been termed the "global warming hiatus" by IPCC (2013). There have been other periods that have also been defined as the "hiatus" depending on the analysis. There are a number of uncertainties and knowledge gaps regarding the "hiatus." This report reviews these issues and also posits insights from a collective set of diverse information that helps us understand what we do and do not know. One salient insight is that the GMST phenomenon is a surface characteristic that does not represent a slowdown in warming of the climate system but rather is an energy redistribution within the oceans. Improved understanding of the ocean distribution and redistribution of heat will help better monitor Earth's energy budget and its consequences. A review of recent scientific publications on the "hiatus" shows the difficulty and complexities in pinpointing the oceanic sink of the "missing heat" from the atmosphere and the upper layer of the oceans, which defines the "hiatus." Advances in "hiatus" research and outlooks (recommendations) are given in this report.