Fig. 5: Schematic of the global teleconnection from the delayed SO warming. | Nature Geoscience

Fig. 5: Schematic of the global teleconnection from the delayed SO warming.

From: Higher precipitation in East Asia and western United States expected with future Southern Ocean warming

Fig. 5

The delayed SO warming propagates equatorward, preferentially west of the continents, following the climatological southeasterlies. This equatorward teleconnection is further promoted by positive low cloud feedback. As the warming signal reaches the equator, it is further amplified by Bjerknes feedback, leading to the El Niño-like warming pattern. In summer, the enhanced equatorial warming heats the tropical troposphere following the moist adiabat, shifting the Asian jet southward and intensifying precipitation over East Asia (EA) due to strengthened interactions between the jet and the Tibetan Plateau. In winter, the El Niño-like warming induces the Rossby wave responses, producing a PNA circulation pattern with corresponding low (L) and high (H) pressure anomalies, which in turn enhances precipitation across the western United States (WUS) and southeastern United States (SEUS). The multi-model mean of the slow response in abrupt-4xCO2 and piControl climatology across the CMIP6 ensemble is used for the schematic.

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