Corals Evidence an Underestimation of the 20th Century Warming in the Eastern Pacific Cold Tongue

The trade winds cause strong upwelling in the eastern equatorial Pacific, and create the eastern Pacific Cold Tongue (EPCT) that has far‐reaching impacts on global climate. However, large discrepancies persist in quantifying 20th‐century EPCT sea surface temperature (SST) changes across different instrumental data sets. Here we synthesize four coral Sr/Ca‐SST records from the tropical central‐eastern Pacific to develop a Cold Tongue Index (CTI) reconstruction for 1887–1997. The coral CTI record shows a rapid 20th century warming of the EPCT, suggesting an underestimation of warming trends in instrumental CTI records. The decadal to multidecadal changes in reconstructed EPCT SST show an association with the Walker Circulation. Our reconstruction indicates that recent EPCT cooling during the global warming hiatus is not unusual in the context of the 20th century. Our results provide new evidence for 20th century EPCT SST changes and an observational constraint for predicting future tropical climate changes. The tropical Pacific exhibits an asymmetric pattern of sea surface temperatures (SST) along the equator, with a warm pool in the west and a cold tongue in the east. The Eastern Pacific Cold Tongue (EPCT) plays a crucial role in influencing global climate. To date, however, considerable disagreement persists about changes and causes of the EPCT SST over the 20th century due to the sparse instrumental observations before ∼1960. Here we synthesize published coral Sr/Ca‐SST records from the tropical central‐eastern Pacific to develop a coral Cold Tongue Index (CTIcoral) for the period 1887–1997. The CTIcoralrecord correlates significantly with instrumental data since 1960, and thus allows reliable assessment of 20th century EPCT SST changes. Our record exhibits a rapid 20th century warming trend of the EPCT, indicating an underestimation of warming trends in instrumental CTI records. The decadal to multidecadal changes in CTIcoralalso show an association with the Walker Circulation. Comparing the magnitude of the 1992–2011 trend in instrumental CTI with our reconstruction reveals that recent EPCT cooling during the global warming hiatus is not anomalous in the context of 20th century. Our findings have implications for predicting future EPCT SST changes by offering a constraint for model simulations. Synthesizing coral Sr/Ca‐SST records yields robust estimates of 20th century warming trend in the eastern Pacific Cold Tongue (EPCT)A coral‐based reconstruction indicates an underestimation of 20th century EPCT warming trends in instrumental SST recordsRecent EPCT cooling during the global warming hiatus is not anomalous in the context of the 20th century Synthesizing coral Sr/Ca‐SST records yields robust estimates of 20th century warming trend in the eastern Pacific Cold Tongue (EPCT) A coral‐based reconstruction indicates an underestimation of 20th century EPCT warming trends in instrumental SST records Recent EPCT cooling during the global warming hiatus is not anomalous in the context of the 20th century