Abstract: The health, economic, and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in our lifetime, and no individual in this globalized, interconnected world is immune from its effects. This pandemic is a fundamental challenge for consumers, companies, and governments. Against this background, our commentary underscores linkages between public health, environment, and economy and explores how lessons from COVID-19 can help prevent other large-scale disasters.1 We focus on global climate change (GCC), because rising temperatures increase the likelihood of future pandemics.2 Accordingly, experts consider GCC “the largest public health threat of the century” (Wyns 2020). Although societal crises are underresearched in marketing, we propose that marketers should add their expertise to help avoid future crises. Notably, the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing (JPP&M) is uniquely positioned as a premier outlet for corresponding research at the intersection of marketing and policy.

Abstract: We present in this paper the interannual variability of seasonal temperature and rainfall in the Indian meteorological subdivisions (IMS) for boreal winter and summer seasons that take in to account the varying length of the seasons. Our study reveals that accounting for the variations in the length of the seasons produces stronger teleconnections between the seasonal anomalies of surface temperature and rainfall over India with corresponding sea surface temperature anomalies of the tropical Oceans (especially over the northern Indian and the equatorial Pacific Oceans) compared to the same teleconnections from fixed length seasons over the IMS. It should be noted that the IMS show significant spatial heterogeneity in these teleconnections.

Abstract: The transfer of Indian Ocean thermocline and intermediate waters into the South Atlantic via the Agulhas leakage is generally believed to be primarily accomplished through mesoscale eddy processes, essentially anticyclones known as Agulhas Rings. Here we take advantage of a recent eddy tracking algorithm and Argo float profiles to study the evolution and the thermohaline structure of one of these eddies over the course of 1.5 years (May 2013–November 2014). We found that during this period the ring evolved according to two different phases: During the first one, taking place in winter, the mixing layer in the eddy deepened significantly. During the second phase, the eddy subsided below the upper warmer layer of the South Atlantic subtropical gyre while propagating west. The separation of this eddy from the sea surface could explain the decrease in its surface signature in satellite altimetry maps, suggesting that such changes are not due to eddy dissipation processes. It is a very large eddy (7.1×1013 m3 in volume), extending, after subduction, from a depth of 200–1,200 m and characterized by two mode water cores. The two mode water cores represent the largest eddy heat and salt anomalies when compared with the surrounding. In terms of its impact over 1 year, the north‐westward propagation of this long‐lived anticyclone induces a transport of 2.2 Sv of water, 0.008 PW of heat, and 2.2×105 kg s−1 of salt. These results confirm that Agulhas Rings play a very important role in the Indo‐Atlantic interocean exchange of heat and salt.

Abstract: The governing dynamics that modulate the propagation characteristics of intraseasonal oscillations (ISO) during summer monsoon over the two ocean basins, Bay of Bengal (BoB) and Arabian Sea (AS), are investigated using observational analysis and high‐resolution regional coupled ocean‐atmosphere climate model simulations. ISO features are extracted over the Indian region using a data‐adaptive spectral method called multichannel singular spectrum analysis. ISO exhibits stronger intensity over the BoB than over the AS. But ISO‐filtered rainfall propagates at a faster rate ( urn:x-wiley:jgrd:media:jgrd55983:jgrd55983-math-00011.25°/day) over AS as compared to BoB ( urn:x-wiley:jgrd:media:jgrd55983:jgrd55983-math-0002.74°/day), giving rise to a northwest‐southeast tilted band of rainfall anomalies. However, the composite diagrams of several atmospheric fields associated with northward propagation like vorticity, low‐level convergence, and oceanic variables like sea surface temperature and mixed layer depth do not show this difference in propagation speed and all exhibit a speed of nearly 0.75°/day in both the ocean basins. The difference in speed of ISO‐filtered rainfall is explained through moisture flux convergence. Anomalous horizontal moisture advection plays a major role over AS in preconditioning the atmosphere and making it favorable for convection. Anomalous wind acting on climatological moisture gradient is the dominant term in the moisture advection equation. Easterly wind anomalies associated with a low‐level anticyclone over India helps advect moisture from the eastern side of the domain. The northwest‐southeast tilt of ISO is dictated by the atmospheric processes of moisture advection with the upper ocean playing a more passive role in causing the tilt.

Abstract: While westerly winds dominate the equatorial Indian Ocean and generate the well‐known eastward flowing Wyrtki Jets during boreal spring and fall, there is evidence of a strong westward surface jet during winter that is swifter than eastward currents during that season. A weaker westward jet is found in summer. In this study, we report the occurrence, characteristics, and intraseasonal variability of this westward jet and its impact on mixed layer salinity in the equatorial Indian Ocean using the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) reanalysis with the Navy Coupled Ocean Data Assimilation (NCODA). The westward jet typically occurs in the upper 50 m, above an eastward flowing equatorial undercurrent, with peak westward volume transport of approximately −8 Sv. The westward jet builds up gradually, decays rapidly, and is primarily forced by local intraseasonal wind stress anomalies generated by atmospheric intraseasonal convection. Westward acceleration of the jet occurs when the dominant intraseasonal westward wind anomaly is not balanced by the zonal pressure gradient (ZPG) force. The intraseasonal westward jet generates strong horizontal advection and is the leading cause of mixed layer freshening in the western equatorial Indian Ocean. Without it, a saltier mixed layer would persist and weaken any barrier layers. Existing barrier layers are strengthened following the passage of freshwater‐laden westward jets. Deceleration of the westward jet occurs when the eastward ZPG becomes increasingly important and the westward intraseasonal wind anomalies weaken. A rapid reversal of atmospheric intraseasonal convection‐driven surface winds eventually terminates the westward jet.