Mid-Pliocene El Nino/Southern Oscillation suppressed by Pacific intertropical convergence zone shift

The El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the dominant driver of year-to-year climate variability in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, impacts climate pattern across the globe. However, the response of the ENSO system to past and potential future temperature increases is not fully understood. Here we investigate ENSO variability in the warmer climate of the mid-Pliocene (similar to 3.0-3.3 Ma), when surface temperatures were similar to 2-3 degrees C above modern values, in a large ensemble of climate models-the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project. We show that the ensemble consistently suggests a weakening of ENSO variability, with a mean reduction of 25% (+/- 16%). We further show that shifts in the equatorial Pacific mean state cannot fully explain these changes. Instead, ENSO was suppressed by a series of off-equatorial processes triggered by a northward displacement of the Pacific intertropical convergence zone: weakened convective feedback and intensified Southern Hemisphere circulation, which inhibit various processes that initiate ENSO. The connection between the climatological intertropical convergence zone position and ENSO we find in the past is expected to operate in our warming world with important ramifications for ENSO variability.

Automated summary

This study investigates ENSO variability during the mid-Pliocene warm climate, suggesting that ENSO may be suppressed due to a northward displacement of the Pacific intertropical convergence zone, which has significant implications for ENSO variability.