Journal article
More extreme swings of the South Pacific convergence zone due to greenhouse warming
W Cai, M Lengaigne, S Borlace, M Collins, T Cowan, MJ McPhaden, A Timmermann, S Power, J Brown, C Menkes, A Ngari, EM Vincent, MJ Widlansky
Nature | NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP | Published : 2012
DOI: 10.1038/nature11358
Abstract
The South Pacific convergence zone (SPCZ) is the Southern Hemispheres most expansive and persistent rain band, extending from the equatorial western Pacific Ocean southeastward towards French Polynesia. Owing to its strong rainfall gradient, a small displacement in the position of the SPCZ causes drastic changes to hydroclimatic conditions and the frequency of extreme weather eventsg-such as droughts, floods and tropical cyclonesg-experienced by vulnerable island countries in the region. The SPCZ position varies from its climatological mean location with the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), moving a few degrees northward during moderate El Niño events and southward during La Niña events...
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Awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Funding Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Australian Climate Change Science Program, CSIRO Office of Chief Executive Science Leader programme, and the Pacific-Australia Climate Change Science and Adaptation Planning Program. A. T. and M.J.W. were supported by the Office of Science (BER) US Department of Energy, grant DE-FG02-07ER64469, the US National Science Foundation under grant 1049219 and by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). M.J.M. was supported by NOAA and by CSIRO as a visiting scholar. M. L., C. M. and E. M. V. were supported by the Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD). This is PMEL contribution number 3830.