El Niño–Southern Oscillation complexity

Axel Timmermann, Soon Il An, Jong Seong Kug, Fei Fei Jin, Wenju Cai, Antonietta Capotondi, Kim M Cobb, Matthieu Lengaigne, Michael J. McPhaden, Malte F. Stuecker, Karl Stein, Andrew T. Wittenberg, Kyung Sook Yun, Tobias Bayr, Han Ching Chen, Yoshimitsu Chikamoto, Boris Dewitte, Dietmar Dommenget, Pamela Grothe, Eric GuilyardiYoo Geun Ham, Michiya Hayashi, Sarah Ineson, Daehyun Kang, Sunyong Kim, Won Moo Kim, June Yi Lee, Tim Li, Jing Jia Luo, Shayne McGregor, Yann Planton, Scott Power, Harun Rashid, Hong Li Ren, Agus Santoso, Ken Takahashi, Alexander Todd, Guomin Wang, Guojian Wang, Ruihuang Xie, Woo Hyun Yang, Sang Wook Yeh, Jinho Yoon, Elke Zeller, Xuebin Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalReview ArticleResearchpeer-review

788 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

El Niño events are characterized by surface warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean and weakening of equatorial trade winds that occur every few years. Such conditions are accompanied by changes in atmospheric and oceanic circulation, affecting global climate, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, fisheries and human activities. The alternation of warm El Niño and cold La Niña conditions, referred to as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), represents the strongest year-to-year fluctuation of the global climate system. Here we provide a synopsis of our current understanding of the spatio-temporal complexity of this important climate mode and its influence on the Earth system.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)535-545
Number of pages11
JournalNature
Volume559
Issue number7715
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 Jul 2018

Keywords

  • El Nino-Southern Oscillation
  • westerly wind
  • El Nino

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