Arctic Sea Ice Loss as a Potential Trigger for Central Pacific El Niño Events

Hyerim Kim; Sang Wook Yeh; Soon Il An; Jae Heung Park; Baek Min Kim; Eun Hyuk Baek

doi:10.1029/2020GL087028

Arctic Sea Ice Loss as a Potential Trigger for Central Pacific El Niño Events

Hyerim Kim, Sang Wook Yeh, Soon Il An, Jae Heung Park, Baek Min Kim, Eun Hyuk Baek

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Abstract

Little attention has been paid to the influence of Arctic sea ice loss on climate variability in the tropical Pacific. By analyzing observational data sets, we hypothesized that anomalous Arctic sea ice concentration variations have the potential to influence tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) variability via atmosphere-ocean coupled processes in the eastern subtropical North Pacific. To test this hypothesis, we conducted idealized model experiments with 15 ensembles in which historical SSTs for 1951–2016 were restored in the Arctic only with different initial conditions. We found that a positive phase of North Pacific Oscillation-like atmospheric circulation, which is modulated by a sea ice reduction in the Pacific Arctic sector, triggers El Niño-like warming in the central tropical Pacific. This implies that connections between the Arctic and the tropics should be considered for further understanding of changes in El Niño and other tropical Pacific climate variability in a changing climate.

Original language	English
Article number	e2020GL087028
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	47
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL087028
Publication status	Published - 2020 Apr 16

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The observational SST data were downloaded (from https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/data.noaa.ersst.v3.html). The NCEP/NCAR R1 data sets were obtained (from https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/data.ncep.reanalysis.html). The SIC data used in this study are from NOAA/NSIDC (available at https://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index). This work was supported by National Research Foundation Grant NRF-2018R1A5A1024958.

Funding Information:
The observational SST data were downloaded (from https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/data.noaa.ersst.v3.html ). The NCEP/NCAR R1 data sets were obtained (from https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/data.ncep.reanalysis.html ). The SIC data used in this study are from NOAA/NSIDC (available at https://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index ). This work was supported by National Research Foundation Grant NRF‐2018R1A5A1024958.

Publisher Copyright:
©2020. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Geophysics
Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1029/2020GL087028

Cite this

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title = "Arctic Sea Ice Loss as a Potential Trigger for Central Pacific El Ni{\~n}o Events",

abstract = "Little attention has been paid to the influence of Arctic sea ice loss on climate variability in the tropical Pacific. By analyzing observational data sets, we hypothesized that anomalous Arctic sea ice concentration variations have the potential to influence tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) variability via atmosphere-ocean coupled processes in the eastern subtropical North Pacific. To test this hypothesis, we conducted idealized model experiments with 15 ensembles in which historical SSTs for 1951–2016 were restored in the Arctic only with different initial conditions. We found that a positive phase of North Pacific Oscillation-like atmospheric circulation, which is modulated by a sea ice reduction in the Pacific Arctic sector, triggers El Ni{\~n}o-like warming in the central tropical Pacific. This implies that connections between the Arctic and the tropics should be considered for further understanding of changes in El Ni{\~n}o and other tropical Pacific climate variability in a changing climate.",

author = "Hyerim Kim and Yeh, {Sang Wook} and An, {Soon Il} and Park, {Jae Heung} and Kim, {Baek Min} and Baek, {Eun Hyuk}",

note = "Funding Information: The observational SST data were downloaded (from https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/data.noaa.ersst.v3.html). The NCEP/NCAR R1 data sets were obtained (from https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/data.ncep.reanalysis.html). The SIC data used in this study are from NOAA/NSIDC (available at https://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index). This work was supported by National Research Foundation Grant NRF-2018R1A5A1024958. Funding Information: The observational SST data were downloaded (from https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/data.noaa.ersst.v3.html ). The NCEP/NCAR R1 data sets were obtained (from https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/data.ncep.reanalysis.html ). The SIC data used in this study are from NOAA/NSIDC (available at https://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index ). This work was supported by National Research Foundation Grant NRF‐2018R1A5A1024958. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright}2020. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.",

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AU - Yeh, Sang Wook

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AU - Kim, Baek Min

AU - Baek, Eun Hyuk

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PY - 2020/4/16

Y1 - 2020/4/16

N2 - Little attention has been paid to the influence of Arctic sea ice loss on climate variability in the tropical Pacific. By analyzing observational data sets, we hypothesized that anomalous Arctic sea ice concentration variations have the potential to influence tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) variability via atmosphere-ocean coupled processes in the eastern subtropical North Pacific. To test this hypothesis, we conducted idealized model experiments with 15 ensembles in which historical SSTs for 1951–2016 were restored in the Arctic only with different initial conditions. We found that a positive phase of North Pacific Oscillation-like atmospheric circulation, which is modulated by a sea ice reduction in the Pacific Arctic sector, triggers El Niño-like warming in the central tropical Pacific. This implies that connections between the Arctic and the tropics should be considered for further understanding of changes in El Niño and other tropical Pacific climate variability in a changing climate.

AB - Little attention has been paid to the influence of Arctic sea ice loss on climate variability in the tropical Pacific. By analyzing observational data sets, we hypothesized that anomalous Arctic sea ice concentration variations have the potential to influence tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) variability via atmosphere-ocean coupled processes in the eastern subtropical North Pacific. To test this hypothesis, we conducted idealized model experiments with 15 ensembles in which historical SSTs for 1951–2016 were restored in the Arctic only with different initial conditions. We found that a positive phase of North Pacific Oscillation-like atmospheric circulation, which is modulated by a sea ice reduction in the Pacific Arctic sector, triggers El Niño-like warming in the central tropical Pacific. This implies that connections between the Arctic and the tropics should be considered for further understanding of changes in El Niño and other tropical Pacific climate variability in a changing climate.

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Arctic Sea Ice Loss as a Potential Trigger for Central Pacific El Niño Events

Abstract

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UN SDGs

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