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Understanding ENSO dynamics through the exploration of past climates
Citation
Phipps, SJ and Brown, JN, Understanding ENSO dynamics through the exploration of past climates, IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 06-07 July 2009, Corvallis, USA, pp. 1-6. (2010) [Refereed Conference Paper]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd
DOI: doi:10.1088/1755-1315/9/1/012010
Abstract
The palaeoclimate record shows that significant changes in ENSO characteristics
took place during the Holocene. Exploring these changes, using both data and models, provides
a means of understanding ENSO dynamics. Previous modelling studies have suggested a
mechanism whereby changes in the Earth’s orbital geometry explain the strengthening of
ENSO over the Holocene. Decreasing summer insolation over the Asian landmass resulted
in a weakening of the Asian monsoon system. This led to a weakening of the easterly trade
winds in the western Pacific, creating conditions more favourable for El Nino development. To
explore this hypothesised forcing mechanism, we use a climate system model to conduct a suite
of simulations of the climate of the past 8,000 years. In the early Holocene, we find that the
Asian summer monsoon system is intensified, resulting in an amplification of the easterly trade
winds in the western Pacific. The stronger trade winds represent a barrier to the eastward
propagation of westerly wind bursts, therefore inhibiting the onset of El Nino events. The
fundamental behaviour of ENSO remains unchanged, with the major change over the Holocene
being the influence of the background state of the Pacific on the susceptibility of the ocean to
the initiation of El Nino events.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Conference Paper |
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Keywords: | palaeoclimatology, El Nino-Southern Oscillation |
Research Division: | Earth Sciences |
Research Group: | Physical geography and environmental geoscience |
Research Field: | Palaeoclimatology |
Objective Division: | Environmental Policy, Climate Change and Natural Hazards |
Objective Group: | Understanding climate change |
Objective Field: | Climate variability (excl. social impacts) |
UTAS Author: | Phipps, SJ (Dr Steven Phipps) |
ID Code: | 104708 |
Year Published: | 2010 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 3 |
Deposited By: | IMAS Research and Education Centre |
Deposited On: | 2015-11-18 |
Last Modified: | 2016-02-29 |
Downloads: | 164 View Download Statistics |
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