Stratospheric ozone depletion has contributed to the recent tropical La Niña-like cooling pattern
Abstract Despite the continuous global warming, over the past several decades, the tropical East Pacific has experienced a cooling trend whose origin remains an area of active research. Mounting evidence has linked tropical sea-surface temperature (SST) patterns to changes in the Southern Ocean via...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-04-01
|
| Series: | npj Climate and Atmospheric Science |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-01020-0 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850170876355411968 |
|---|---|
| author | Yue Dong Lorenzo M. Polvani Yen-Ting Hwang Mark R. England |
| author_facet | Yue Dong Lorenzo M. Polvani Yen-Ting Hwang Mark R. England |
| author_sort | Yue Dong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Despite the continuous global warming, over the past several decades, the tropical East Pacific has experienced a cooling trend whose origin remains an area of active research. Mounting evidence has linked tropical sea-surface temperature (SST) patterns to changes in the Southern Ocean via remote teleconnections. Using a fully-coupled global climate model, we demonstrate that stratospheric ozone depletion can produce a La Niña-like tropical SST trend pattern resembling recent observations. This tropical response initially arises from mid-latitude ocean adjustments to ozone-driven surface wind anomalies, which then enhance in the tropics via positive cloud feedback and wind-evaporation-SST feedback. Our finding suggests that the observed La Niña-like tropical SST trend pattern may have been, in part, caused by the formation of the ozone hole in the late 20th century. It also implies that ozone recovery in the coming decades will likely contribute to a future weakening or reversal of the observed tropical SST trends. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3a0c3a85944b4eaca1f0c1dde649fa14 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2397-3722 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | npj Climate and Atmospheric Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-3a0c3a85944b4eaca1f0c1dde649fa142025-08-20T02:20:23ZengNature Portfolionpj Climate and Atmospheric Science2397-37222025-04-01811910.1038/s41612-025-01020-0Stratospheric ozone depletion has contributed to the recent tropical La Niña-like cooling patternYue Dong0Lorenzo M. Polvani1Yen-Ting Hwang2Mark R. England3Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California Los AngelesLamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia UniversityDepartment of Atmospheric Sciences, National Taiwan UniversityDepartment of Mathematics and Statistics, University of ExeterAbstract Despite the continuous global warming, over the past several decades, the tropical East Pacific has experienced a cooling trend whose origin remains an area of active research. Mounting evidence has linked tropical sea-surface temperature (SST) patterns to changes in the Southern Ocean via remote teleconnections. Using a fully-coupled global climate model, we demonstrate that stratospheric ozone depletion can produce a La Niña-like tropical SST trend pattern resembling recent observations. This tropical response initially arises from mid-latitude ocean adjustments to ozone-driven surface wind anomalies, which then enhance in the tropics via positive cloud feedback and wind-evaporation-SST feedback. Our finding suggests that the observed La Niña-like tropical SST trend pattern may have been, in part, caused by the formation of the ozone hole in the late 20th century. It also implies that ozone recovery in the coming decades will likely contribute to a future weakening or reversal of the observed tropical SST trends.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-01020-0 |
| spellingShingle | Yue Dong Lorenzo M. Polvani Yen-Ting Hwang Mark R. England Stratospheric ozone depletion has contributed to the recent tropical La Niña-like cooling pattern npj Climate and Atmospheric Science |
| title | Stratospheric ozone depletion has contributed to the recent tropical La Niña-like cooling pattern |
| title_full | Stratospheric ozone depletion has contributed to the recent tropical La Niña-like cooling pattern |
| title_fullStr | Stratospheric ozone depletion has contributed to the recent tropical La Niña-like cooling pattern |
| title_full_unstemmed | Stratospheric ozone depletion has contributed to the recent tropical La Niña-like cooling pattern |
| title_short | Stratospheric ozone depletion has contributed to the recent tropical La Niña-like cooling pattern |
| title_sort | stratospheric ozone depletion has contributed to the recent tropical la nina like cooling pattern |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-01020-0 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yuedong stratosphericozonedepletionhascontributedtotherecenttropicallaninalikecoolingpattern AT lorenzompolvani stratosphericozonedepletionhascontributedtotherecenttropicallaninalikecoolingpattern AT yentinghwang stratosphericozonedepletionhascontributedtotherecenttropicallaninalikecoolingpattern AT markrengland stratosphericozonedepletionhascontributedtotherecenttropicallaninalikecoolingpattern |