Arctic-Eurasian climate linkage induced by tropical ocean variability

• Published in: Nature Communications
• Main Authors: Matsumura, Shinji, Kosaka, Yu
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 450; Arctic; Pacific; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2115/75387; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11359-7

Eurasian continent has experienced cold winters over the past two decades in contrast with Arctic warming. Previous studies have suggested that the cold Eurasian winters are associated with Arctic sea-ice loss, while others attributed them to atmospheric internal variability. However, here we show that the Arctic and Eurasian climate linkage is driven by the combination between atmospheric teleconnection originating in the tropical oceans and Arctic sea ice. Like a battery charges a capacitor, El Nino heats the tropical Atlantic, and the warmer Atlantic condition persists until early winter of El Nino-decay year. We find that the persisting tropical Atlantic warming induces anomalous Rossby wave train arching to Eurasia, leading to Arctic sea-ice increase and Eurasian warming. In La Nina phase these changes are reversed. Our results therefore suggest that the combination of recent tropical Pacific cooling and Arctic sea-ice loss have contributed to the frequent Eurasian cold winters.