A Mauritius weekly publication Week-End has published the results of a research carried out by Japanese, Australian and Mauritian researchers according to which, a system called "dipole" influences the Indian Ocean climatic conditions. According to researchers, the Indian Ocean Dipole, which is a recent discovery, has a significant influence on the rain and drought seasons. These studies could explain the exceptional scale of the monsoon which caused the recent deadly floods in Pakistan. According to Mamade Beebeejaun, who is one of the directors of Mauritian national meteorological station, for over a year, local meteorologists have engaged in a vast research to try and determine the real impact of the Indian Ocean Dipole. The name Indian Ocean Dipole was given by a team of Japanese researchers. What is known at this stage is that this climatic phenomenon is caused by coupling together of oceanic atmospheric conditions that result in irregular oscillation of the sea temperatures. This leads to abnormal cooling of temperatures on the surface of the western equatorial part of the Indian Ocean, while the eastern equatorial part (towards Australia) experiences abnormal warming. The Indian Ocean Dipole was first identified in 1999. Since then, research has established that the Indian Ocean Dipole involves an aperiodic oscillation of sea-surface temperatures between "positive", "neutral" and "negative" phases. Currently, the attention of researchers is concentrated on the impact that the Indian Ocean Dipole will have on the climate of East Asia countries. This research has so far established that the monsoon is one of the major climatic phenomena of the planet as recently demonstrated by the deadly Pakistan floods. (Xinhua)