Zixiang Yan, Bo Wu, Tim Li, Matthew Collins, Tianjun Zhou, Wen Zhou
{"title":"Increased longitudinal separation of equatorial rainfall responses to Eastern Pacific and Central Pacific El Niño under global warming","authors":"Zixiang Yan, Bo Wu, Tim Li, Matthew Collins, Tianjun Zhou, Wen Zhou","doi":"10.1038/s41612-025-00933-0","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>El Niño induced equatorial precipitation centers shift to different longitudinal positions during Eastern Pacific (EP) and Central Pacific (CP) El Niño events, resulting in distinct global climate responses. However, it remains unexplored how EP and CP El Niño forced precipitation changes may differ under global warming. Here, we find that the longitudinal separation of precipitation centers in EP and CP El Niño events is projected to increase under global warming. Specifically, the precipitation anomalies during EP El Niño events will shift further eastward, while those during CP El Niño will intensify in their original positions. This change is attributed to the amplified equatorial thermocline feedback as the mean thermocline shoals. A more meridionally confined El Niño structure under global warming generates extra boundary layer moisture convergence in situ. This intensifies the precipitation anomalies in CP El Niño but shifts the precipitation center eastward towards the maximum sea surface temperature anomaly center in EP El Niño. The projected increased longitudinal separation of precipitation centers suggests that the differences in global climate impacts between EP and CP El Niño events will intensify under global warming.</p>","PeriodicalId":19438,"journal":{"name":"npj Climate and Atmospheric Science","volume":"50 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"npj Climate and Atmospheric Science","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-00933-0","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"METEOROLOGY & ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
Increased longitudinal separation of equatorial rainfall responses to Eastern Pacific and Central Pacific El Niño under global warming
El Niño induced equatorial precipitation centers shift to different longitudinal positions during Eastern Pacific (EP) and Central Pacific (CP) El Niño events, resulting in distinct global climate responses. However, it remains unexplored how EP and CP El Niño forced precipitation changes may differ under global warming. Here, we find that the longitudinal separation of precipitation centers in EP and CP El Niño events is projected to increase under global warming. Specifically, the precipitation anomalies during EP El Niño events will shift further eastward, while those during CP El Niño will intensify in their original positions. This change is attributed to the amplified equatorial thermocline feedback as the mean thermocline shoals. A more meridionally confined El Niño structure under global warming generates extra boundary layer moisture convergence in situ. This intensifies the precipitation anomalies in CP El Niño but shifts the precipitation center eastward towards the maximum sea surface temperature anomaly center in EP El Niño. The projected increased longitudinal separation of precipitation centers suggests that the differences in global climate impacts between EP and CP El Niño events will intensify under global warming.
期刊介绍:
npj Climate and Atmospheric Science is an open-access journal encompassing the relevant physical, chemical, and biological aspects of atmospheric and climate science. The journal places particular emphasis on regional studies that unveil new insights into specific localities, including examinations of local atmospheric composition, such as aerosols.
The range of topics covered by the journal includes climate dynamics, climate variability, weather and climate prediction, climate change, ocean dynamics, weather extremes, air pollution, atmospheric chemistry (including aerosols), the hydrological cycle, and atmosphere–ocean and atmosphere–land interactions. The journal welcomes studies employing a diverse array of methods, including numerical and statistical modeling, the development and application of in situ observational techniques, remote sensing, and the development or evaluation of new reanalyses.