Scientists have discovered an eerie sound coming from the Caribbean Sea, and it's so loud that you can hear it from space.
The scary thing is, the noise is too low-pitched for our ears to pick up.
Researchers were studying the sea in a bid to try to predict what the future holds when it comes to climate change. Scientists from the University of Liverpool in England analyzed sea levels and pressure over the past 60 years.
While they were comparing models, they noticed some strange movement on the sea basin. Curious, they investigated further.
They found out it wasn't a couple of dodgy models: These movements were actually happening. Eerier still, they were creating a loud whistling noise.
It's been dubbed the "Rossby Whistle." Here's a pitched up version of the sound:
Basically, the whistle is caused by a giant wave that travels west across the ocean and hits the Caribbean basin.
It then takes 120 days to hit the basin's east edge. This traveling is what causes the sound, which is so loud that it can be picked up in space via oscillations in the earth's gravity field.
Chris Hughes of the University of Liverpool told Gizmodo,
We were looking at ocean pressure through models for quite different reasons, and this region just didn't work. You have a current that flows east to west through the Caribbean Sea. It's very narrow and quite strong. Just like a narrow jet of air, it becomes unstable and creates eddies.
So don't worry: We're definitely not bracing for Armageddon. Scientists don't really know what to make of the findings right now, but they're vital when it comes to exploring the ocean's role in controlling the earth's climate.
Citations: gizmodo
