Weakened interannual variability of the contrast in rainfall between the eastern equatorial Pacific and equatorial Atlantic since 2000

Recent studies suggest that the interannual variability in the tropical Pacific associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation has weakened since 2000. In this study, the authors report that the interannual variability of the contrast in rainfall between the eastern equatorial Pacific and equatori...

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Main Author: Lei WANG
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2017-05-01
Series:Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16742834.2017.1286632
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spelling doaj-9db609e2cfb944788af0888978d9bbba2021-03-02T08:33:53ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters1674-28342376-61232017-05-0110319820510.1080/16742834.2017.12866321286632Weakened interannual variability of the contrast in rainfall between the eastern equatorial Pacific and equatorial Atlantic since 2000Lei WANG0College of Ocean and Meteorology, Guangdong Ocean UniversityRecent studies suggest that the interannual variability in the tropical Pacific associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation has weakened since 2000. In this study, the authors report that the interannual variability of the contrast in rainfall between the eastern equatorial Pacific and equatorial Atlantic has also weakened remarkably since 2000, attributable to the weakened interannual variability in the zonal sea surface temperature gradient between the eastern equatorial Pacific and equatorial Atlantic and in the associated equatorial low-level zonal wind across South America linking the two ocean basins. Diagnosis of a column-integrated moisture budget indicates that the weakening in the interannual variability of the contrast in rainfall is primarily attributable to the changes in moisture convergence associated with vertical motion. The results highlight the clear weakened interannual variability in the coupled equatorial Pacific–Atlantic climate system since 2000, including the Pacific El Niño, Atlantic Niño, equatorial zonal wind across South America, and rainfall over the eastern equatorial Pacific and equatorial Atlantic.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16742834.2017.1286632Interannual variabilitytropical rainfallPacific–Atlantic couplingEl Niño–Southern OscillationAtlantic Niñotwenty-first century climate shift
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Lei WANG
spellingShingle Lei WANG
Weakened interannual variability of the contrast in rainfall between the eastern equatorial Pacific and equatorial Atlantic since 2000
Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters
Interannual variability
tropical rainfall
Pacific–Atlantic coupling
El Niño–Southern Oscillation
Atlantic Niño
twenty-first century climate shift
author_facet Lei WANG
author_sort Lei WANG
title Weakened interannual variability of the contrast in rainfall between the eastern equatorial Pacific and equatorial Atlantic since 2000
title_short Weakened interannual variability of the contrast in rainfall between the eastern equatorial Pacific and equatorial Atlantic since 2000
title_full Weakened interannual variability of the contrast in rainfall between the eastern equatorial Pacific and equatorial Atlantic since 2000
title_fullStr Weakened interannual variability of the contrast in rainfall between the eastern equatorial Pacific and equatorial Atlantic since 2000
title_full_unstemmed Weakened interannual variability of the contrast in rainfall between the eastern equatorial Pacific and equatorial Atlantic since 2000
title_sort weakened interannual variability of the contrast in rainfall between the eastern equatorial pacific and equatorial atlantic since 2000
publisher KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
series Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters
issn 1674-2834
2376-6123
publishDate 2017-05-01
description Recent studies suggest that the interannual variability in the tropical Pacific associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation has weakened since 2000. In this study, the authors report that the interannual variability of the contrast in rainfall between the eastern equatorial Pacific and equatorial Atlantic has also weakened remarkably since 2000, attributable to the weakened interannual variability in the zonal sea surface temperature gradient between the eastern equatorial Pacific and equatorial Atlantic and in the associated equatorial low-level zonal wind across South America linking the two ocean basins. Diagnosis of a column-integrated moisture budget indicates that the weakening in the interannual variability of the contrast in rainfall is primarily attributable to the changes in moisture convergence associated with vertical motion. The results highlight the clear weakened interannual variability in the coupled equatorial Pacific–Atlantic climate system since 2000, including the Pacific El Niño, Atlantic Niño, equatorial zonal wind across South America, and rainfall over the eastern equatorial Pacific and equatorial Atlantic.
topic Interannual variability
tropical rainfall
Pacific–Atlantic coupling
El Niño–Southern Oscillation
Atlantic Niño
twenty-first century climate shift
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16742834.2017.1286632
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