Mid-Holocene El Niño Southern Oscillation variability reduced by northern African vegetation changes in climate models
Abstract Several paleoclimatic reconstructions have indicated that the mid-Holocene (6,000 years before present) was characterized by stronger east-west temperature contrast and lower El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability relative to the present day. While climate models show a reduction i...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Communications Earth & Environment |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02639-w |
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| author | Shivangi Tiwari Francesco S. R. Pausata Allegra N. LeGrande Michael Griffiths Ilana Wainer Hugo Beltrami Anne de Vernal Peter O. Hopcroft Clay Tabor Deepak Chandan W. Richard Peltier |
| author_facet | Shivangi Tiwari Francesco S. R. Pausata Allegra N. LeGrande Michael Griffiths Ilana Wainer Hugo Beltrami Anne de Vernal Peter O. Hopcroft Clay Tabor Deepak Chandan W. Richard Peltier |
| author_sort | Shivangi Tiwari |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Several paleoclimatic reconstructions have indicated that the mid-Holocene (6,000 years before present) was characterized by stronger east-west temperature contrast and lower El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability relative to the present day. While climate models show a reduction in ENSO variability, they underestimate this reduction compared to paleoclimate reconstructions. Further, the drivers behind these changes remain unclear. Here we use five global climate models to show that incorporating vegetation changes over northern Africa during the mid-Holocene amplifies the orbitally-driven strengthening of the West African Monsoon, warms the tropical north Atlantic, and nudges it to an Atlantic Niño-like mean state. Changes over the Atlantic lead to a La Niña-like mean state over the tropical Pacific, with reductions in interannual variability amplified by up to 18% in the Niño3.4 region due to the Green Sahara alone. Our work highlights the importance of the Atlantic influence on ENSO and provides paleoclimatic evidence for this synergistic teleconnection. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c2004efcc59840dcad37dba8576a5783 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2662-4435 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Earth & Environment |
| spelling | doaj-art-c2004efcc59840dcad37dba8576a57832025-08-24T11:52:30ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Earth & Environment2662-44352025-08-016111110.1038/s43247-025-02639-wMid-Holocene El Niño Southern Oscillation variability reduced by northern African vegetation changes in climate modelsShivangi Tiwari0Francesco S. R. Pausata1Allegra N. LeGrande2Michael Griffiths3Ilana Wainer4Hugo Beltrami5Anne de Vernal6Peter O. Hopcroft7Clay Tabor8Deepak Chandan9W. Richard Peltier10Département des sciences de la Terre et de l’atmosphère, Université du Québec à MontréalDépartement des sciences de la Terre et de l’atmosphère, Université du Québec à MontréalNASA Goddard Institute for Space StudiesDepartment of Environmental Science, William Paterson UniversityInstituto Oceanográfico da Universidade de São PauloDépartement des sciences de la Terre et de l’atmosphère, Université du Québec à MontréalDépartement des sciences de la Terre et de l’atmosphère, Université du Québec à MontréalSchool of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of BirminghamDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of ConnecticutDepartment of Physics, University of TorontoDepartment of Physics, University of TorontoAbstract Several paleoclimatic reconstructions have indicated that the mid-Holocene (6,000 years before present) was characterized by stronger east-west temperature contrast and lower El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability relative to the present day. While climate models show a reduction in ENSO variability, they underestimate this reduction compared to paleoclimate reconstructions. Further, the drivers behind these changes remain unclear. Here we use five global climate models to show that incorporating vegetation changes over northern Africa during the mid-Holocene amplifies the orbitally-driven strengthening of the West African Monsoon, warms the tropical north Atlantic, and nudges it to an Atlantic Niño-like mean state. Changes over the Atlantic lead to a La Niña-like mean state over the tropical Pacific, with reductions in interannual variability amplified by up to 18% in the Niño3.4 region due to the Green Sahara alone. Our work highlights the importance of the Atlantic influence on ENSO and provides paleoclimatic evidence for this synergistic teleconnection.https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02639-w |
| spellingShingle | Shivangi Tiwari Francesco S. R. Pausata Allegra N. LeGrande Michael Griffiths Ilana Wainer Hugo Beltrami Anne de Vernal Peter O. Hopcroft Clay Tabor Deepak Chandan W. Richard Peltier Mid-Holocene El Niño Southern Oscillation variability reduced by northern African vegetation changes in climate models Communications Earth & Environment |
| title | Mid-Holocene El Niño Southern Oscillation variability reduced by northern African vegetation changes in climate models |
| title_full | Mid-Holocene El Niño Southern Oscillation variability reduced by northern African vegetation changes in climate models |
| title_fullStr | Mid-Holocene El Niño Southern Oscillation variability reduced by northern African vegetation changes in climate models |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mid-Holocene El Niño Southern Oscillation variability reduced by northern African vegetation changes in climate models |
| title_short | Mid-Holocene El Niño Southern Oscillation variability reduced by northern African vegetation changes in climate models |
| title_sort | mid holocene el nino southern oscillation variability reduced by northern african vegetation changes in climate models |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02639-w |
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