ENSO diversity shows robust decadal variations that must be captured for accurate future projections

Dieppois, B., Capotondi, A., Pohl, B., Pan Chun, K., Monerie, P.-A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5304-9559 and Eden, J. (2021) ENSO diversity shows robust decadal variations that must be captured for accurate future projections. Communications Earth & Environment, 2 (1). 212. ISSN 2662-4435 doi: 10.1038/s43247-021-00285-6

Abstract/Summary

El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) shows a large diversity of events that is modulated by climate variability and change. The representation of this diversity in climate models limits our ability to predict their impact on ecosystems and human livelihood. Here, we use multiple observational datasets to provide a probabilistic description of historical variations in event location and intensity, and to benchmark models, before examining future system trajectories. We find robust decadal variations in event intensities and locations in century-long observational datasets, which are associated with perturbations in equatorial wind-stress and thermocline depth, as well as extra-tropical anomalies in the North and South Pacific. Some climate models are capable of simulating such decadal variability in ENSO diversity, and the associated large-scale patterns. Projections of ENSO diversity in future climate change scenarios strongly depend on the magnitude of decadal variations, and the ability of climate models to reproduce them realistically over the 21st century.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/100413
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > NCAS Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher	Springer Nature
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