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Updated: Nov 15, 2025

Investigating the Relationship between Sea Surface Chlorophyll and Major Features of the South China Sea with Satellite Information
Published on: June 13, 2020
Mean sea surface temperature changes influence ENSO-related precipitation changes in the mid-latitudes
Young-Min Yang1, Jae-Heung Park2, Soon-Il An3,4
1Earth System Modeling Center, Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster, Ministry of Education (KLME)/Joint International Research Laboratory of Climate and Environment Change (ILCEC)/ Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters (CIC-FEMD), Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China.
Abstract:
El Niño profoundly impacts precipitation in high-population regions. This demands an advanced understanding of the changes in El Niño-induced precipitation under the future global warming scenario. However, thus far, consensus is lacking regarding future changes in mid-latitude precipitation influenced by El Niño. Here, by analyzing the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project simulations, we show that future precipitation changes are tightly linked to the response of each type of El Niño to the tropical Pacific mean sea surface temperature (SST) change. A La Niña-like mean SST change intensifies basin-wide El Niño events causing approximately 20% more precipitation over East Asia and North America via enhancing moisture transport. Meanwhile, an El Niño-like mean SST change generates more frequent eastern Pacific El Niño events, enhancing precipitation in North American. Our findings highlight the importance of the mean SST projection in selectively influencing the types of El Niño and their remote impact on precipitation.
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