主讲：胡世能，Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California-San Diego
时间：2019年8月14日（周三）15:10-16:00
地点：物理楼北547
主持/联系：杨军
摘要：
Over the past two decades, El Niño events have weakened on average and their sea surface temperature anomalies shifted westward towards the central Pacific. The intertropical convergence zone, typically migrating southward from its northerly position during El Niño events, has not crossed the equator since 1998. The causes of these changes remain under debate. Here, using in-situ, satellite, and atmospheric reanalysis data, we show that these changes can be related to the multi-decadal strengthening of cross-equatorial winds in the eastern Pacific. This gradual strengthening of meridional winds is unlikely to be caused by El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) changes, and contains signals forced both locally and from outside the tropical Pacific, probably from the tropical North Atlantic. Coupled model simulations in which the observed cross-equatorial wind strengthening is superimposed successfully reproduce the key features of the recent changes in tropical climate. Thus, cross-equatorial winds are found to modulate tropical Pacific mean state and variability, with implications for quantifying projected changes in ENSO under anthropogenic warming.
