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The Role of Ocean Dynamical Thermostat in Delaying the El Niño–Like Response over the Equatorial Pacific to Climate Warming

Journal Article · · Journal of Climate
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [2]
  1. Ocean Univ. of China, Qingdao (China). Physical Oceanography Lab./CIMST and Qingdao National Lab. for Marine Science and Technology
  2. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Atmospheric Science and Global Change Div. (ASGC)
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The role of the ocean dynamics in the response of the equatorial Pacific Ocean to climate warming is investigated using both an atmosphere-ocean coupled climate system and its ocean component. Results show that the initial response (fast pattern) to an uniform heating imposed on to the ocean is a warming centered to the west of the dateline owing to the conventional ocean dynamical thermostat (ODT) mechanism in the eastern equatorial Pacific-a cooling effect arising from the up-gradient upwelling. In time, the warming pattern gradually propagates eastward, becoming more El Niño-like (slow pattern). The transition from the fast to the slow patterns is likely resulted from i) the gradual warming of the equatorial thermocline temperature, which is associated with the arrival of the relatively warmer extratropical waters advected along the subsurface branch of the subtropical cells (STC) and ii) the reduction of the STC strength itself. A mixed layer heat budget analysis finds that it is the total ocean dynamical effect rather than the conventional ODT that holds the key for understanding the pattern of the SST in the equatorial Pacific and that the surface heat flux works mainly to compensate the ocean dynamics. Further passive tracer experiments with the ocean component of the coupled system verify the role of the ocean dynamical processes in initiating a La Niña-like SST warming and in setting the pace of the transition to an El Niño-like warming and identify an oceanic origin for the slow eastern Pacific warming independent of the weakening trade wind.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1353325
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA--121871; KP1703010
Journal Information:
Journal of Climate, Journal Name: Journal of Climate Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 30; ISSN 0894-8755
Publisher:
American Meteorological SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (5)

The impact of global warming on sea surface temperature based El Niño-Southern Oscillation monitoring indices journal October 2018
Pacific sea surface temperature linkages with Tanzania's multi‐season drying trends journal February 2019
Understanding the effect of an excessive cold tongue bias on projecting the tropical Pacific SST warming pattern in CMIP5 models journal May 2018
Simulated future changes in ENSO dynamics in the framework of the linear recharge oscillator model journal April 2019
Intensification of El Niño Rainfall Variability Over the Tropical Pacific in the Slow Oceanic Response to Global Warming journal February 2019

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Air-sea interaction
Climate change
ENSO
Heat budgets/fluxes
Ocean dynamics