scholarly journals Strengthening of the Walker Circulation in recent decades and the role of natural sea surface temperature variability

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 021003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xueying Zhao ◽  
Robert J Allen
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Walker Circulation ◽  
Temperature Variability ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
The Walker Circulation

Understanding the Anthropogenically Forced Change of Equatorial Pacific Trade Winds in Coupled Climate Models*

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (22) ◽  
pp. 8510-8526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baoqiang Xiang ◽  
Bin Wang ◽  
Juan Li ◽  
Ming Zhao ◽  
June-Yi Lee
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Walker Circulation ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Trade Wind ◽  
Trade Winds ◽  
The Walker Circulation

Abstract Understanding the change of equatorial Pacific trade winds is pivotal for understanding the global mean temperature change and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) property change. The weakening of the Walker circulation due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) forcing was suggested as one of the most robust phenomena in current climate models by examining zonal sea level pressure gradient over the tropical Pacific. This study explores another component of the Walker circulation change focusing on equatorial Pacific trade wind change. Model sensitivity experiments demonstrate that the direct/fast response due to GHG forcing is to increase the trade winds, especially over the equatorial central-western Pacific (ECWP) (5°S–5°N, 140°E–150°W), while the indirect/slow response associated with sea surface temperature (SST) warming weakens the trade winds. Further, analysis of the results from 19 models in phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) and the Parallel Ocean Program (POP)–Ocean Atmosphere Sea Ice Soil (OASIS)–ECHAM model (POEM) shows that the projected weakening of the trades is robust only in the equatorial eastern Pacific (EEP) ( 5°S–5°N, 150°–80°W), but highly uncertain over the ECWP with 9 out of 19 CMIP5 models producing intensified trades. The prominent and robust weakening of EEP trades is suggested to be mainly driven by a top-down mechanism: the mean vertical advection of more upper-tropospheric warming downward to generate a cyclonic circulation anomaly in the southeast tropical Pacific. In the ECWP, the large intermodel spread is primarily linked to model diversity in simulating the relative warming of the equatorial Pacific versus the tropical mean sea surface temperature. The possible root causes of the uncertainty for the trade wind change are also discussed.

Reduced eastern tropical Atlantic sea surface temperature variability at the end of the Green Sahara

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Rustic ◽  
Francesco SR Pausata ◽  
Peter DeMenocal
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
West African Monsoon ◽  
Walker Circulation ◽  
West African ◽  
Temperature Variability ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Tropical Atlantic ◽  
The West ◽  
Monsoon System

<p>Mid-Holocene proxy evidence records profound climatic changes, including alteration of the West African Monsoon system and the end of the ‘Green Sahara’ period. Model simulations have related changes in the West African Monsoon system, which controls present-day seasonal hydroclimate over much of the African continent north of the equator, to alterations of the tropical Walker circulation. Here we investigate the change in tropical sea surface temperature variability in the eastern tropical Atlantic, where ocean-atmosphere coupling is robust. Through analysis of the distribution of oxygen isotopes from the tests of individual specimens of the surface-dwelling foraminifer <em>Globigerinoides ruber</em>, we find that SST variability is significantly decreased at the end of the Green Sahara period ~3.5-5kya. During the period of reduced variability we also observe changes in the background state of the tropical Atlantic as characterized by the east-west SST gradient, linking variability to background conditions. We compare our record to co-eval records of tropical Pacific variability that describe changes to the El Niño Southern Oscillation, as well as to records of hydroclimate change in Southeast Asia, and find similarities in these records, suggesting a common origin of these climate signals. Taken together, this evidence points toward an alteration of the tropical Walker circulation which may, in part, be related to changes in vegetation and dust loading occurring during the drying of the Sahara at mid-Holocene.</p>

Structure and function of the southeastern Gulf of California ecosystem during low and high sea surface temperature variability

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 101686
Author(s):  
Juan Carlos Hernández-Padilla ◽  
Manuel J. Zetina-Rejón ◽  
F. Arreguín-Sánchez ◽  
Pablo del Monte-Luna ◽  
José T. Nieto-Navarro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Gulf Of California ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Temperature Variability ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
And Function

scholarly journals Role of sea surface temperature responses in simulation of the climatic effect of mineral dust aerosol

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 6049-6062 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Yue ◽  
H. Liao ◽  
H. J. Wang ◽  
S. L. Li ◽  
J. P. Tang
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Mineral Dust ◽  
Dust Aerosol ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Climatic Effect ◽  
Radiative Effects ◽  
Climate Simulations

Abstract. Mineral dust aerosol can be transported over the nearby oceans and influence the energy balance at the sea surface. The role of dust-induced sea surface temperature (SST) responses in simulations of the climatic effect of dust is examined by using a general circulation model with online simulation of mineral dust and a coupled mixed-layer ocean model. Both the longwave and shortwave radiative effects of mineral dust aerosol are considered in climate simulations. The SST responses are found to be very influential on simulated dust-induced climate change, especially when climate simulations consider the two-way dust-climate coupling to account for the feedbacks. With prescribed SSTs and dust concentrations, we obtain an increase of 0.02 K in the global and annual mean surface air temperature (SAT) in response to dust radiative effects. In contrast, when SSTs are allowed to respond to radiative forcing of dust in the presence of the dust cycle-climate interactions, we obtain a global and annual mean cooling of 0.09 K in SAT by dust. The extra cooling simulated with the SST responses can be attributed to the following two factors: (1) The negative net (shortwave plus longwave) radiative forcing of dust at the surface reduces SST, which decreases latent heat fluxes and upward transport of water vapor, resulting in less warming in the atmosphere; (2) The positive feedback between SST responses and dust cycle. The dust-induced reductions in SST lead to reductions in precipitation (or wet deposition of dust) and hence increase the global burden of small dust particles. These small particles have strong scattering effects, which enhance the dust cooling at the surface and further reduce SSTs.

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