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Recent enhancement of central Pacific El Niño variability relative to last eight centuries

Author

Listed:
  • Yu Liu

    (The State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, The Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Interdisciplinary Research Center of Earth Science Frontier (IRCESF) and Joint Center for Global Change Studies (JCGCS), Beijing Normal University
    School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University)

  • Kim M. Cobb

    (School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • Huiming Song

    (The State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, The Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Qiang Li

    (The State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, The Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Ching-Yao Li

    (Tung Fang Design Institute)

  • Takeshi Nakatsuka

    (Research Institute for Humanity and Nature)

  • Zhisheng An

    (The State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, The Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Interdisciplinary Research Center of Earth Science Frontier (IRCESF) and Joint Center for Global Change Studies (JCGCS), Beijing Normal University)

  • Weijian Zhou

    (The State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, The Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Interdisciplinary Research Center of Earth Science Frontier (IRCESF) and Joint Center for Global Change Studies (JCGCS), Beijing Normal University)

  • Qiufang Cai

    (The State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, The Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Jinbao Li

    (The University of Hong Kong)

  • Steven W. Leavitt

    (The Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, The University of Arizona)

  • Changfeng Sun

    (The State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, The Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Ruochen Mei

    (The State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, The Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Chuan-Chou Shen

    (High-Precision Mass Spectrometry and Environment Change Laboratory (HISPEC), National Taiwan University)

  • Ming-Hsun Chan

    (National Chiayi University)

  • Junyan Sun

    (The State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, The Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Libin Yan

    (The State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, The Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Ying Lei

    (The State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, The Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Yongyong Ma

    (The State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, The Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Xuxiang Li

    (School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University)

  • Deliang Chen

    (Regional Climate Group, University of Gothenburg)

  • Hans W. Linderholm

    (Regional Climate Group, University of Gothenburg)

Abstract

The far-reaching impacts of central Pacific El Niño events on global climate differ appreciably from those associated with eastern Pacific El Niño events. Central Pacific El Niño events may become more frequent in coming decades as atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations rise, but the instrumental record of central Pacific sea-surface temperatures is too short to detect potential trends. Here we present an annually resolved reconstruction of NIÑO4 sea-surface temperature, located in the central equatorial Pacific, based on oxygen isotopic time series from Taiwan tree cellulose that span from 1190 AD to 2007 AD. Our reconstruction indicates that relatively warm Niño4 sea-surface temperature values over the late twentieth century are accompanied by higher levels of interannual variability than observed in other intervals of the 818-year-long reconstruction. Our results imply that anthropogenic greenhouse forcing may be driving an increase in central Pacific El Niño-Southern Oscillation variability and/or its hydrological impacts, consistent with recent modelling studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu Liu & Kim M. Cobb & Huiming Song & Qiang Li & Ching-Yao Li & Takeshi Nakatsuka & Zhisheng An & Weijian Zhou & Qiufang Cai & Jinbao Li & Steven W. Leavitt & Changfeng Sun & Ruochen Mei & Chuan-Chou , 2017. "Recent enhancement of central Pacific El Niño variability relative to last eight centuries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-8, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms15386
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15386
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    Cited by:

    1. Ruyu Gan & Qi Liu & Gang Huang & Kaiming Hu & Xichen Li, 2023. "Greenhouse warming and internal variability increase extreme and central Pacific El Niño frequency since 1980," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Zhixin Hao & Danyang Xiong & Jingyun Zheng, 2021. "How ancient China dealt with summer droughts—a case study of the whole process of the 1751 drought in the Qing dynasty," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 1-22, March.

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