Unveiling the role of South Tropical Atlantic in winter Atlantic Nino inducing La Nina.

ABSTRACT: The boreal winter-peaked Atlantic Niño/Niña can influence La Niña/El Niño (the cold/warm phase of El Niño-Southern Oscillation, ENSO) in the following year. However, the Atlantic Niño-La Niña relationship is more uncertain than the Atlantic Niña-El Niño counterpart. Here, we show that this uncertainty arises from two distinct types of Atlantic Niño events: the Equatorial and Expanded types, which differ in their meridional sea surface temperature (SST) warming. The Equatorial type, with SST warming confined to the equator, has a weaker climate impact due to limited influence on local convective heating in spring when the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) shifts southward. In contrast, the Expanded type, with SST warming extending into the southern tropical Atlantic (STA), drive persist

SUBMITTER: Zhang G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11825880 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature