Cool La Nina during the warmth of the Pliocene?

Journal article

The role of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in greenhouse warming and climate change remains controversial. During the warmth of the early-mid Pliocene, we find evidence for enhanced thermocline tilt and cold upwelling in the equatorial Pacific, consistent with the prevalence of a La Niña-like state, rather than the proposed persistent warm El Niño-like conditions. Our Pliocene paleothermometer supports the idea of a dynamic "ocean thermostat" in which heating of the tropical Pacific leads to a cooling of the east equatorial Pacific and a La Niña-like state, analogous to observations of a transient increasing east-west sea surface temperature gradient in the 20th-century tropical Pacific.

Authors: Rickaby, R; Halloran, P

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Science (New York, N.Y.)
• Volume: 307
• Issue: 5717
• Pages: 1948-1952
• Publication date: 2005-03-01
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1104666
• EISSN: 1095-9203
• ISSN: 0036-8075
• Language: English