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Thirty years (1993–2022) of concurrent satellite and in‐situ observations show a long‐term strengthening of the equatorial Pacific upper‐ocean circulation. Enhanced southeasterly and cross‐equatorial winds have caused an annual mean, basin‐wide acceleration of the equatorial westward near‐surface currents by ∼20% and an acceleration of poleward flow north (south) of the equator by ∼60% (∼20%). Additional moored velocity data reveal a deepening of the Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC) core at 170°W and significant shoaling at 140°W and 110°W, but no significant changes in EUC core velocity. The strongest subsurface zonal velocity trends are observed above the EUC core in the central to eastern Pacific and occur before and after the seasonal maximum of EUC core velocity, causing enhanced upper‐ocean vertical current shear. Consistent with trends of the 20°C isotherm depth along the equatorial Pacific, a significant basin‐wide steepening of the equatorial thermocline is observed. Both the accelerating equatorial current system and the enhanced thermocline slope are consistent with an observed steepening of the zonal sea surface height gradient due to increased wind‐driven westward mass transport at the surface. During February‐March, both surface and subsurface currents along the equator show eastward velocity trends, in contrast to westward near‐surface current trends during the remainder of the year. The trend reversal is attributed to both a long‐term shift in equatorial Kelvin wave activity and to the impact of strong interannual variability due to El Niño Southern Oscillation and other modes of natural variability on decadal to multidecadal time scales. Plain Language Summary: Thirty years (1993–2022) of temporally overlapping satellite and in‐situ observations reveal a long‐term strengthening of the equatorial Pacific circulation in the upper 200 m. Both the west‐east (zonal) and south‐north (meridional) surface atmospheric winds typically observed in the tropical Pacific intensified. As a result, westward near‐surface currents in the central equatorial Pacific accelerated by ∼20%, while poleward currents accelerated by ∼60% (∼20%) north (south) of the equator. The strongest trends in zonal velocity are observed above the core of the Equatorial Undercurrent. While the subsurface current in the central and eastern Pacific shoaled by 12 m, it deepened in the western Pacific by 6 m, which aligns with trends of the 20°C isotherm depth. Both the accelerating equatorial currents and the steeper thermocline slope are consistent with a steepening west‐east slope of sea surface height due to increased westward water mass transport. Our results show that a shift in equatorial wave activity and strong interannual variability cause eastward velocity anomalies in the observed surface and subsurface current trends during February‐March. Between 1993 and 2022, long‐term equatorial circulation trends persist, but these trends are modified by natural events at both interannual timescales such as El Niño and La Niña events, and longer timescales. Key Points: 30 years of observations show a wind‐driven strengthening of equatorial Pacific surface zonal currents by ∼20% and poleward flow by ∼20%−60%The subsurface Equatorial Undercurrent intensified above its core depth, primarily in the central to eastern PacificLong‐term moored observations of subsurface velocity and temperature show a significant basin‐wide steepening of the equatorial thermocline [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal El Niño is an extreme situation of El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) with sea surface temperature warming confined in the far‐eastern equatorial Pacific. Some coastal El Niños evolve into a basin scale El Niño, and some don't, implying a diversity in ENSO evolutions after a coastal El Niño event. In this study, the coastal El Niños in 2017 and 2023 are selected to examine their subsequent evolution. Both coastal El Niños developed after a La Niña, with the former followed by a La Niña and the latter by a basin‐scale El Niño. The cold (warm) subsurface temperatures in 2017 (2023) were key factors leading to the divergent ENSO evolution. Convection over the western tropical Pacific and the atmospheric circulation anomalies across the equatorial Pacific also contributed to the differences. Model predictions suggest that differences in ENSO evolution after a coastal El Niño are associated with differences in ENSO predictability. Plain Language Summary: Compared with the global impact of basin‐scale El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, coastal El Niño impacts are mainly focused along the South American coast. They are less studied, especially, in terms of temporal evolution and longer‐term development. Here, we examine the divergent evolution of ENSO conditions in the tropical Pacific after the coastal El Niños in 2017 and 2023. This subsequent divergent evolution of these events was associated with both preceding subsurface ocean heat content levels, convection over the western tropical Pacific, and concurrent atmospheric circulation. Specifically, preceding subsurface ocean cooling combined with low‐level easterly wind anomalies led to the growth of La Niña after the coastal El Niño in 2017, while strong preceding subsurface ocean warming led to the growth of El Niño after the coastal El Niño in 2023. These differences in the evolution of tropical Pacific Ocean conditions after a coastal El Niño were associated with different levels of ENSO predictability. Key Points: The coastal El Niño in 2017 was followed by a La Niña, while the coastal El Niño in 2023 evolved into a basin‐scale El NiñoSubsurface ocean heat content levels, western Pacific convection, and off‐equatorial circulation differences affect El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) evolutionDivergent evolution of conditions in the tropical Pacific after a coastal El Niño is associated with differences in ENSO predictability [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Author(s): Wenju Cai [sup.1] [sup.2], Benjamin Ng [sup.2], Tao Geng [sup.1] [sup.2], Lixin Wu [sup.1], Agus Santoso [sup.2] [sup.3], Michael J. McPhaden [sup.4] Author Affiliations: (1) Key Laboratory of Physical [...]

Understanding the interaction between the tropical Pacific and Atlantic Oceans has challenged the climate community for decades. Typically, boreal summer Atlantic Niño events are followed by vigorous Pacific events of opposite sign around two seasons later. However, incorporating the equatorial Atlantic information to variabilities internal to the Pacific lends no significant additional predictive skill for the subsequent El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Here we resolve this conundrum in a physically consistent frame, in which the nascent onset of a Pacific event rapidly induces an opposite‐signed summer equatorial Atlantic event and the lead correlation of Atlantic over Pacific is a statistical artifact of ENSO's autocorrelation. This Pacific‐to‐Atlantic impact is limited to a short window around late spring due to seasonally‐amplified Atlantic atmosphere‐ocean coupling. This new frame reconciles the discrepancies between the observed and multi‐model simulated inter‐basin relationship, providing a major advance in understanding seasonally‐modulated inter‐basin climate connections as well as their predictability. Plain Language Summary: Previous studies interpreted the observed lead/lag relationship between Atlantic Niño/Niña and Pacific Niño/Niña sea surface temperature anomalies as evidence for a precursory role of the equatorial Atlantic on the development of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. This study clearly demonstrates that this statistical relationship is not related to Atlantic‐to‐Pacific causality, but can rather be explained by seasonally modulated equatorial Atlantic's response to ENSO. We find that Pacific ENSO events drive equatorial Atlantic events rather than vice versa, and reconcile the apparent discrepancies between the observed and multi‐model simulated tropical Pacific/Atlantic relationship. Key Points: The lead correlation of the equatorial Atlantic over the Pacific is not related to Atlantic‐to‐Pacific causalityThe tropical Pacific/Atlantic interaction is consistent with the nascent onset of Pacific events driving the equatorial Atlantic eventsThe discrepancies between the observed and multi‐model simulated tropical Pacific/Atlantic relationship can be reconciled in this new frame [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) prediction is a challenging problem, largely relying on the relationship between IOD and El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO). This study demonstrates that heat content internal to the Indian Ocean can be an effective predictor providing extra IOD predictability, through constructing statistical prediction models with and without heat content as a predictor. Two recently proposed heat content predictors, equatorial heat content (EQHC) and heat content in the eastern pole of the Dipole (SEHC) are compared in this study. Results show that EQHC is more effective partly because it is relatively independent of ENSO and partly because it does not rely on IOD persistence, as does SEHC. The efficacy of EQHC as an IOD predictor is seasonally dependent, being most effective at 5–8‐month lead times beginning in the preceding late boreal winter and spring. Plain Language Summary: The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), a major climate mode in the tropical Indian Ocean, can lead to severe floods and droughts over surrounding continental areas. Prediction of the IOD is very challenging due to the apparent lack of effective predictors besides the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation. This study compares two recently proposed predictors for the IOD based on upper ocean heat content, one along the equator and one in the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean. Equatorial heat content proves to be more effective, especially for predictions starting in the late boreal winter and spring. This study helps to improve our understanding of IOD dynamics and its predictability. Key Points: Heat content internal to the Indian Ocean provides IOD predictability in addition to El Niño‐Southern Oscillation, especially at 5–8‐month lead timesHeat content as a predictor is seasonally dependent, being most effective as an initial condition in the boreal winter and springEquatorial heat content is more useful than heat content in the eastern pole of the Dipole as a predictor when accounting for persistence [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) features strong warm events in the eastern equatorial Pacific (EP), or mild warm and strong cold events in the central Pacific (CP), with distinct impacts on global climates. Under transient greenhouse warming, models project increased sea surface temperature (SST) variability of both ENSO regimes, but the timing of emergence out of internal variability remains unknown for either regime. Here we find increased EP-ENSO SST variability emerging by around 2030 ± 6, more than a decade earlier than that of CP-ENSO, and approximately four decades earlier than that previously suggested without separating the two regimes. The earlier EP-ENSO emergence results from a stronger increase in EP-ENSO rainfall response, which boosts the signal of increased SST variability, and is enhanced by ENSO non-linear atmospheric feedback. Thus, increased ENSO SST variability under greenhouse warming is likely to emerge first in the eastern than central Pacific, and decades earlier than previously anticipated. Under global warming, increased variability in El Niño sea surface temperature was projected to be detectable by about 2070. Here the authors show that the increased variability of a type of more impactful El Niño events is likely detectable by 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current coupled global climate models have biases in their simulations of the tropical Pacific mean-state conditions as well as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. Specifically, in the Community Earth System Model (CESM version 1.2.2), the tropical Pacific mean state has overly weak sea surface temperature (SST) gradients in both the zonal and meridional directions, ENSO is too strong and too regular, and El Niño and La Niña events are too symmetrical. A previous study with a slab-ocean model showed that a higher elevation of the Andes can improve the tropical Pacific mean-state simulation by adjusting the atmospheric circulation and increasing the east–west and north–south SST gradients. Motivated by the link between the mean tropical Pacific climate and ENSO variations shown in previous studies, here we explored the influence of the Andes on the simulation of ENSO using the CESM 1.2.2 under full atmosphere–ocean coupling. In addition to improving the simulated tropical Pacific mean state by increasing the strength of the surface easterly and cross-equatorial southerly winds, the Higher Andes experiment decreases the amplitude of ENSO, increases the phase asymmetry, and makes ENSO events less regular, resulting in a simulated ENSO that is more consistent with observations. The weaker ENSO cycle is related to stronger damping in the Higher Andes experiment according to an analysis of the Bjerknes index. Our overall results suggest that increasing the height of the Andes reduces biases in the mean state and improves the representation of ENSO in the tropical Pacific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using mooring observations and reanalysis, we show that anomalously strong westward Equatorial Undercurrent (wEUC) developed in June–July in 2016 and 1998 in the Indian Ocean, which coincided with extreme Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and El Niño events. Simulations show that equatorial Kelvin and Rossby waves were excited by winds associated with El Niño and positive IOD events during 2015 and 1997, and their negative phases during 2016 and 1998. The constructive relationship between the delayed‐time contributions of eastern‐boundary‐reflected‐waves that excited by the easterlies in 2015 and 1997 and the direct contributions of wind‐forced‐waves that excited by the westerlies in 2016 and 1998 resulted in the intensified wEUC. Slow intermediate‐order baroclinic‐modes, rather than fast low‐order baroclinic‐modes, dominated the strong wEUC. The eastern‐boundary‐reflected‐waves dominated in 1997–1998 and directly wind‐forced‐waves dominated in 2015–2016. Our results emphasize the importance of constructive interactions of the directly‐wind‐forced and boundary‐reflected waves in driving the interannual variability of Indian Ocean wEUC. Plain Language Summary: This study investigated the unique westward Equatorial Undercurrent (wEUC) and its associated dynamics in the Indian Ocean. Mooring observations at (80°E, 2.5°N) reveal the occurrence of an anomalously strong wEUC between 100 and 200 m depth in June‐July (JJ) 2016. Simulations show that the constructive relationship between the directly forced and boundary‐reflected waves resulted in the unprecedentedly strong wEUC in JJ 2016. Equatorial Kelvin and Rossby waves were excited by winds associated with El Niño and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) during 2015, and their negative phases during 2016. Waves excited in 2015 hit the meridional boundary, and boundary‐generated waves propagated into the interior Indian Ocean in 2016, which were superposed onto the directly forced waves. A similar wave‐induced enhanced wEUC also occurred during the 1997–1998 strong El Niño and IOD events but with the dominant contribution coming from the eastern‐boundary‐reflected waves. Key Points: An anomalously strong westward Equatorial Undercurrent (wEUC) was observed in June–July (JJ) 1998 and 2016The intensified wEUC in JJ 1998 and 2016 was driven by the co‐occurrence of strong IOD and ENSO events during 1997–1998 and 2015–2016The dynamics are related to both directly wind‐driven and eastern‐boundary‐reflected intermediate‐order baroclinic waves [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the impact of the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) on El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is important for climate prediction. By analyzing observational data and performing Indian and Pacific Ocean pacemaker experiments using a state-of-the-art climate model, we find that a positive IOD (pIOD) can favor both cold and warm sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) in the tropical Pacific, in contrast to the previously identified pIOD–El Niño connection. The diverse impacts of the pIOD on ENSO are related to SSTA in the Seychelles–Chagos thermocline ridge (SCTR; 60°–85°E, 7°–15°S) as part of the warm pole of the pIOD. Specifically, a pIOD with SCTR warming can cause warm SSTA in the southeastern Indian Ocean, which induces La Niña–like conditions in the tropical Pacific through interbasin interaction processes associated with a recently identified climate phenomenon dubbed the "warm pool dipole." This study identifies a new pIOD–ENSO relationship and examines the associated mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea surface height (SSH) along the west coast of Australia is key to local climate and is strongly forced by remote surface wind variability related to El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the tropical Pacific Ocean. This study provides a method to predict interannual variability in SSH along the west coast of Australia using a simple 1.5‐layer dynamical ocean model forced by a statistical atmospheric model for ENSO‐related winds. The model has realistic coastlines and is driven by reanalysis surface winds regressed onto an ENSO index. The model when run in hindcast mode to predict past variability can simulate tide gauge observations at Fremantle along the west coast of Australia up to 13 months in advance, which outperforms persistence. We conclude that this methodology can be useful as a baseline for gauging the performance of more sophisticated forecast models for predicting SSH variations along the west coast of Australia. Plain Language Summary: Sea surface height (SSH) along the west coast of Australia is key to regional climate and is strongly forced by remote surface wind variability related to El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Previous studies predicted interannual variability in SSH in this region using sophisticated ocean‐atmosphere coupled general circulation models, but their ocean models had coarse horizontal resolution, required to reduce computational burden. This study provides a much simpler method to predict SSH variability along the west coast of Australia using a simple ocean dynamical model with realistic coastlines forced by ENSO‐related atmospheric winds. Our model, run in hindcast mode to predict past SSH variability, is able to simulate SSH anomalies along the west coast of Australia up to 13 months in advance. A true forecast system to predict future variations would also require prediction of ENSO. However, this methodology can be useful as a baseline for gauging the performance of more sophisticated model forecast systems. Key Points: Interannual variability in sea level along the west Australian coast can be predicted up to 13 months in advance using a simple ocean modelTo illustrate, the model is run in hindcast mode forced remotely by Pacific surface winds related to El Niño Southern OscillationModel hindcasts generally outperform persistence forecasts in terms of anomaly correlation and root‐mean‐squared differences [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of a warming climate, the complexity of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) makes its prediction a challenge. In addition to various flavors of ENSO, oceanic warming in the central and eastern tropical Pacific is not always accompanied by corresponding atmospheric anomalies; that is, the atmosphere and ocean remain uncoupled. Such uncoupled warm events as happened in 1979, 2004, 2014, and 2018 are rare and represent an unusual form of ENSO diversity. A weaker zonal sea surface temperature anomaly gradient across the tropical Pacific compared to a conventional El Niño may partially account for the decoupling. Also, the uncoupled warm events typically start late in the calendar year, which raises the possible influence of seasonality in background conditions for the lack of coupling. Without coupling, the impact of the warming in the central and eastern tropical Pacific on extratropical climate is different from that of its coupled counterpart. Plain Language Summary: In a warming climate, the features of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation seem to be changing. For example, during the El Niño events in 1979, 2004, 2014, and 2018, oceanic warming in the central and eastern tropical Pacific was not accompanied by corresponding atmospheric anomalies; that is, the atmosphere and ocean remained uncoupled. These uncoupled warming events were associated with a weaker east‐west contrast in sea surface temperature anomaly across the tropical Pacific compared to a conventional El Niño. Also, the uncoupled warm events typically start late in the calendar year, which raises the possible influence of seasonality in the background conditions for the lack of coupling. Without coupling, the impact of the warming in the central and eastern tropical Pacific on extratropical climate is different from that of the coupled counterpart, leading to different predictability of seasonal‐interannual climate in extratropical regions, such as the United States. Key Points: Oceanic warming in the tropical Pacific is not always accompanied by corresponding atmospheric anomaliesA weaker zonal SST anomaly gradient and a late start may partially account for the decouplingThe impact on extratropics is different between the coupled and uncoupled warming [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The asymmetry of mixed layer salinity (MLS) anomalies in response to El Niño and La Niña events in the tropical Pacific is examined for the first time based on Argo observations and Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean simulation. The difference of MLS anomalies between El Niño and La Niña shows a dipole structure, with El Niño featuring strong negative salinity anomalies east of 160°E while La Niña shows remarkable positive salinity anomalies west of 160°E. A salinity budget analysis suggests that nonlinear zonal advection plays a dominant role in generating the asymmetric MLS structure. This dipole MLS structure acts to generate a dipole structure of barrier layer thickness and thus likely plays an important role in the development of El Niño–Southern Oscillation asymmetries in sea surface temperature. Plain Language Summary: The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is well known for its great impacts on global climate. Previous studies on the differences between El Niño and La Niña, defined as ENSO asymmetry, focused primarily on temperature, but the differences in salinity between the two ENSO phases and their potential effects on the ENSO asymmetry are relatively unexplored. In this paper, we have for the first time documented salinity differences associated with El Niño‐La Niña asymmetry and diagnosed the air‐sea processes in controlling these differences based on observations and model simulations. We find a dipole structure exists in mixed layer salinity (MLS) variations between El Niño and La Niña in the western‐central equatorial Pacific, with stronger negative MLS anomalies to the east of 160°E during El Niño and stronger positive MLS anomalies to the west of 160°E during La Niña. Based on a salinity budget analysis, the MLS dipole is mostly attributed to the nonlinear zonal advection. This dipole MLS structure in relation to a dipole structure in barrier layer thickness, and their potential to feedback on El Niño and La Niña sea surface temperature asymmetry, is also discussed. Key Points: A dipole structure of mixed layer salinity in the western‐central equatorial Pacific is a characteristic of El Niño‐La Niña asymmetryNonlinear zonal advection plays a dominant role in generating the dipole salinity structureThe dipole salinity structure has potential effects on the asymmetry of ENSO SST [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study which aims to examine the ecological impacts of 2015 and 2016 El Niño event in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Topics being presented include the El Niño –Southern Oscillation's impact on atmospheric and oceanic conditions on interannual time scales as well as the eastward expansion of the Indo-Pacific warm pool and the deepening of the thermocline and nutricline in response to weakening trade winds.

Sea surface temperature (SST) variability associated with El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) slightly increased in the central Pacific Ocean but weakened significantly in the eastern Pacific at the beginning of twenty-first century relative to 1980-99. This decadal shift led to the greater prominence central Pacific (CP) El Niño events during the 2000s relative to the previous two decades, which were dominated by eastern Pacific (EP) events. To expand upon previous studies that have examined this shift in ENSO variability, temperature and temperature variance budgets are examined in the mixed layer of the Niño-3 (5°S-5°N, 150°-90°W) and Niño-4 (5°S-5°N, 160°E-150°W) regions from seven ocean model products spanning the period 1980-2010. This multimodel-product-based approach provides a robust assessment of dominant mechanisms that account for decadal changes in two key index regions. A temperature variance budget perspective on the role of thermocline feedbacks in the ENSO cycle based on recharge oscillator theory is also presented. As found in previous studies, thermocline and zonal advective feedbacks are the most important positive feedbacks for generating ENSO SST variance, and thermodynamic damping is the largest negative feedback for damping ENSO variance. Consistent with the shift toward more CP El Niños after 2000, thermocline feedbacks experienced a substantial reduction from 1980 to 1999 and into the 2000s, while zonal advective feedbacks were less affected. Negative feedbacks likewise weakened after 2000, particularly thermal damping in the Niño-3 region and the nonlinear sink of variance in both regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major open question about El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is what causes ENSO amplitude asymmetry, with strong El Niños generally larger than strong La Niñas. The authors examine a leading hypothesis-that the ENSO state modifies the fetch and/or wind speed of westerly wind bursts (WWBs) that create asymmetric forcing and an asymmetric ENSO response. Further, in El Niño forecasts, the number of WWBs expected increases in the month following a strong WWB when compared with the month preceding it. Using a conceptual model, a relationship is derived between the magnitude of the westerly wind burst state dependence on ENSO and ENSO asymmetry. It is found that this relationship between the magnitude of the state dependence and ENSO asymmetry holds in both the observations and 21 coupled climate models. Finally, it is found that because of state-dependent westerly wind burst forcing, extreme El Niño events tend to be of the eastern Pacific variety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The El Niño/Southern Oscillation is Earth's most prominent source of interannual climate variability, alternating irregularly between El Niño and La Niña, and resulting in global disruption of weather patterns, ecosystems, fisheries and agriculture. The 1998-1999 extreme La Niña event that followed the 1997-1998 extreme El Niño event switched extreme El Niño-induced severe droughts to devastating floods in western Pacific countries, and vice versa in the southwestern United States. During extreme La Niña events, cold sea surface conditions develop in the central Pacific, creating an enhanced temperature gradient from the Maritime continent to the central Pacific. Recent studies have revealed robust changes in El Niño characteristics in response to simulated future greenhouse warming, but how La Niña will change remains unclear. Here we present climate modelling evidence, from simulations conducted for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (ref. ), for a near doubling in the frequency of future extreme La Niña events, from one in every 23 years to one in every 13 years. This occurs because projected faster mean warming of the Maritime continent than the central Pacific, enhanced upper ocean vertical temperature gradients, and increased frequency of extreme El Niño events are conducive to development of the extreme La Niña events. Approximately 75% of the increase occurs in years following extreme El Niño events, thus projecting more frequent swings between opposite extremes from one year to the next. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The equatorial Pacific is a dynamic region that plays an important role in the global carbon cycle. This region is the largest oceanic source of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere, which varies interannually dependent on the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and other climatic and oceanic drivers. We present high-resolution observations of surface ocean CO2 partial pressure ( pCO2) at four fixed locations in the Niño 3.4 area with data sets encompassing 10 ENSO warm and cold events from 1997 to 2011. The mooring observations confirm that ENSO controls much of the interannual variability in surface seawater pCO2 with values ranging from 315 to 578 µatm. The mooring time series also capture the temporal variability necessary to make the first estimates of long-term pH trends in the equatorial Pacific, which suggests that the combination of ocean acidification and decadal variability creates conditions for high rates of pH change since the beginning of the mooring record. Anthropogenic CO2 increases play a dominant role in significant observed seawater pCO2 trends of +2.3 to +3.3 µatm yr−1 and pH trends of −0.0018 to −0.0026 yr−1 across the full time series in this region. However, increased upwelling driven by increased trade winds, a shallower thermocline, and increased frequency of La Niña events also contribute an average of 40% of the observed trends since 1998. These trends are higher than previous estimates based on underway observations and suggest that the equatorial Pacific is contributing a greater amount of CO2 to the atmospheric CO2 inventory over the last decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the Earth's most prominent source of interannual climate variability, exerting profound worldwide effects. Despite decades of research, its behaviour continues to challenge scientists. In the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, the anomalously cool sea surface temperatures (SSTs) found during La Niña events and the warm waters of modest El Niño events both propagate westwards, as in the seasonal cycle. In contrast, SST anomalies propagate eastwards during extreme El Niño events, prominently in the post-1976 period, spurring unusual weather events worldwide with costly consequences. The cause of this propagation asymmetry is currently unknown. Here we trace the cause of the asymmetry to the variations in upper ocean currents in the equatorial Pacific, whereby the westward-flowing currents are enhanced during La Niña events but reversed during extreme El Niño events. Our results highlight that propagation asymmetry is favoured when the westward mean equatorial currents weaken, as is projected to be the case under global warming. By analysing past and future climate simulations of an ensemble of models with more realistic propagation, we find a doubling in the occurrences of El Niño events that feature prominent eastward propagation characteristics in a warmer world. Our analysis thus suggests that more frequent emergence of propagation asymmetry will be an indication of the Earth's warming climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses factors which contributed to the strength of the 1997-98 El Nino. The physical mechanisms responsible; Role of the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO); Large-scale ocean-atmosphere interactions and equatorial ocean dynamics; The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO); Global warming trends and the ENSO cycle; Ideas from computer models; Complexity of the problem.

The Atlantic Niño is characterized by sea surface warming in the equatorial Atlantic, which can trigger La Niña, the cold phase of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Although observations show that the Atlantic Niño has weakened by approximately 30% since the 1970s, its remote influence on ENSO remains strong. Here, we show that this apparent discrepancy is due to the existence of two types of Atlantic Niño with distinct patterns and climatic impacts, which we refer to as the central and eastern Atlantic Niño. Our results show that with equal strength, the central Atlantic Niño has a stronger influence on tropical climate than its eastern counterpart. Meanwhile, the eastern Atlantic Niño has weakened by approximately 50% in recent decades, allowing the central Atlantic Niño to emerge and dominate the remote impact on ENSO. Given the distinct climatic impacts of the two types, it is necessary to distinguish between them and investigate their behaviors and influences on climate in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research which focused on Tropical Pacific decadal climate variability and change (TPDV). Topics explored include the way TPDV can influence biodiversity, agricultural production, and weather events, the link between internal TPDV and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, and the anthropogenic and natural processes which tend to contribute to TPDV.

A summary is presented of an article published online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aav4236 concerning pantropical climate interactions such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate system. It comments on the influence that tropical ocean-atmosphere interactions can have on climate systems and the impact that Indian and Atlantic Oceans can have on ENSO. It speculates on how correcting systematic model errors in the Atlantic could have on future climate change projections.