Atlantic warming source of recent Pacific climate trends

Wind and waves in Temwaiku, Kiribati. Image of Annika Dean.

International Pacific Research Center (IPRC) researchers Axel Timmermann and Yoshimitsu Chikamoto partnered with colleagues at the University of New South Wales and University of Hawai‘i to solve the puzzle of why, contrary to climate model projections, observations show that in recent years the Pacific trade winds have strengthened, the eastern Pacific has cooled, and sea level has risen in the western Pacific. The source of these trends, they have found, is rapid warming of the Atlantic Ocean. Their findings from observations and modeling experiments are published in an online issue of Nature Climate Change.

Read more about it in Hawaii System News, Science 2.0, and Ars Technica.