Climate Impact of Late Quaternary Equatorial Pacific Sea Surface Temperature Variations

Science ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 289 (5485) ◽  
pp. 1719-1724 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Lea
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Climate Impact ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Temperature Variations

Late Quaternary sea-surface temperature variations in the southeast Atlantic: a planktic foraminifer faunal record of the past 600 000 yr (IMAGES II MD962085)

2002 ◽  
Vol 180 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 163-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min-Te Chen ◽  
Yuan-Pin Chang ◽  
Cheng-Chieh Chang ◽  
Li-Wen Wang ◽  
Chung-Ho Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Temperature Variations ◽  
The Past

Holocene sea surface temperature variations recorded in corals from Kikai Island, Japan

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. e9-e14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroto Kajita ◽  
Atsuko Yamazaki ◽  
Takaaki Watanabe ◽  
Chung-Che Wu ◽  
Chuan-Chou Shen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Temperature Variations

What Controls the Mean East–West Sea Surface Temperature Gradient in the Equatorial Pacific: The Role of Cloud Albedo

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 2757-2778 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. J. Burls ◽  
A. V. Fedorov
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Gradient ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Walker Circulation ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature Gradient ◽  
The Mean ◽  
East West ◽  
Surface Temperature Gradient

Abstract The mean east–west sea surface temperature gradient along the equator is a key feature of tropical climate. Tightly coupled to the atmospheric Walker circulation and the oceanic east–west thermocline tilt, it effectively defines tropical climate conditions. In the Pacific, its presence permits the El Niño–Southern Oscillation phenomenon. What determines this temperature gradient within the fully coupled ocean–atmosphere system is therefore a central question in climate dynamics, critical for understanding past and future climates. Using a comprehensive coupled model [Community Earth System Model (CESM)], the authors demonstrate how the meridional gradient in cloud albedo between the tropics and midlatitudes (Δα) sets the mean east–west sea surface temperature gradient in the equatorial Pacific. To change Δα in the numerical experiments, the authors change the optical properties of clouds by modifying the atmospheric water path, but only in the shortwave radiation scheme of the model. When Δα is varied from approximately −0.15 to 0.1, the east–west SST contrast in the equatorial Pacific reduces from 7.5°C to less than 1°C and the Walker circulation nearly collapses. These experiments reveal a near-linear dependence between Δα and the zonal temperature gradient, which generally agrees with results from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) preindustrial control simulations. The authors explain the close relation between the two variables using an energy balance model incorporating the essential dynamics of the warm pool, cold tongue, and Walker circulation complex.

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