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Volume 30 Issue 2

Mar.  2013

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Article >  ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES  > 2013 >  30(2): 247-262

Interdecadal Enhancement of the Walker Circulation over the Tropical Pacific in the Late 1990s

  • 1.

    National Centre for Atmospheric Science-Climate, Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, UK;State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modelling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029


doi: 10.1007/s00376-012-2069-9

  • The Walker circulation is one of the major components of the large-scale tropical atmospheric circulation and variations in its strength are critical to equatorial Pacific Ocean circulation. It has been argued in the literature that during the 20th century the Walker circulation weakened, and that this weakening was attributable to anthropogenic climate change. By using updated observations, we show that there has been a rapid interdecadal enhancement of the Walker circulation since the late 1990s. Associated with this enhancement is enhanced precipitation in the tropical western Pacific, anomalous westerlies in the upper troposphere, descent in the central and eastern tropical Pacific, and anomalous surface easterlies in the western and central tropical Pacific. The characteristics of associated oceanic changes are a strengthened thermocline slope and an enhanced zonal SST gradient across the tropical Pacific. Many characteristics of these changes are similar to those associated with the mid-1970s climate shift with an opposite sign. We also show that the interdecadal variability of the Walker circulation in the tropical Pacific is inversely correlated to the interdecadal variability of the zonal circulation in the tropical Atlantic. An enhancement of the Walker circulation in the tropical Pacific is associated with a weakening zonal circulation in the tropical Atlantic and vise versa, implying an inter-Atlantic-Pacific connection of the zonal overturning circulation variation. Whether these recent changes will be sustained is not yet clear, but our research highlights the importance of understanding the interdecadal variability, as well as the long-term trends, that influence tropical circulation.
  • [1] ZHOU Botao, WANG Huijun, 2008: Interdecadal Change in the Connection Between Hadley Circulation and Winter Temperature in East Asia, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 25, 24-30.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-008-0024-6
    [2] Cen WANG, Baohua REN, Gen LI, Jianqiu ZHENG, Linwei JIANG, Di XU, 2023: An Interdecadal Change in the Influence of the NAO on Atlantic-Induced Arctic Daily Warming around the Mid-1980s, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 40, 1285-1297.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-022-2218-8
    [3] Kui LIU, Lian-Tong ZHOU, Zhibiao WANG, Yong LIU, 2023: Interdecadal Enhancement in the Relationship between the Western North Pacific Summer Monsoon and Sea Surface Temperature in the Tropical Central-Western Pacific after the Early 1990s, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 40, 1766-1782.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-023-2200-0
    [4] Ya GAO, Huijun WANG, Dong CHEN, 2017: Interdecadal Variations of the South Asian Summer Monsoon Circulation Variability and the Associated Sea Surface Temperatures on Interannual Scales, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 34, 816-832.  doi: 10.1007/ s00376-017-6246-8
    [5] BIAN Lingen, LIN Xiang, 2012: Interdecadal Change in the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave during 1951--2010, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 29, 464-470.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-011-1143-z
    [6] NING Liang, QIAN Yongfu, 2009: Interdecadal Change in Extreme Precipitation over South China and Its Mechanism, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 26, 109-118.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-009-0109-x
    [7] Botao ZHOU, Ying SHI, Ying XU, 2016: CMIP5 Simulated Change in the Intensity of the Hadley and Walker Circulations from the Perspective of Velocity Potential, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 33, 808-818.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-016-5216-x
    [8] ZENG Gang, SUN Zhaobo, Wei-Chyung WANG, MIN Jinzhong, 2007: Interdecadal Variability of the East Asian Summer Monsoon and Associated Atmospheric Circulations, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 24, 915-926.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-007-0915-y
    [9] HAN Jinping, WANG Huijun, 2007: Interdecadal Variability of the East Asian Summer Monsoon in an AGCM, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 24, 808-818.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-007-0808-0
    [10] LIU Shan, WANG Huijun, 2013: Transition of Zonal Asymmetry of the Arctic Oscillation and the Antarctic Oscillation at the End of 1970s, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 30, 41-47.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-012-2027-6
    [11] WANG Zhiren, WU Dexing, CHEN Xue'en, QIAO Ran, 2013: ENSO Indices and Analyses, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 30, 1491-1506.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-012-2238-x
    [12] Yuan Zhuojian, Jian Maoqiu, 2001: Diagnostic Equations for the Walker Circulation, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 18, 166-178.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-001-0011-7
    [13] Johnny C. L. CHAN, Kin Sik LIU, 2022: Recent Decrease in the Difference in Tropical Cyclone Occurrence between the Atlantic and the Western North Pacific, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 39, 1387-1397.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-022-1309-x
    [14] XU Kang, ZHU Congwen, HE Jinhai, 2013: Two Types of El Nio-related Southern Oscillation and Their Different Impacts on Global Land Precipitation, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 30, 1743-1757.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-013-2272-3
    [15] Tim LI, ZHANG Lei, Hiroyuki MURAKAMI, 2015: Strengthening of the Walker Circulation under Global Warming in an Aqua-Planet General Circulation Model Simulation, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 32, 1473-1480.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-015-5033-7
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    • Manuscript History

    Manuscript received: 10 March 2013
    Manuscript revised: 10 March 2013
    通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com
    • 1. 

      沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院 沈阳 110142

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    Interdecadal Enhancement of the Walker Circulation over the Tropical Pacific in the Late 1990s

    • 1. National Centre for Atmospheric Science-Climate, Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, UK;State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modelling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029
    • Manuscript received: 2013-03-10
    • Manuscript revised: 2013-03-10

    Abstract: The Walker circulation is one of the major components of the large-scale tropical atmospheric circulation and variations in its strength are critical to equatorial Pacific Ocean circulation. It has been argued in the literature that during the 20th century the Walker circulation weakened, and that this weakening was attributable to anthropogenic climate change. By using updated observations, we show that there has been a rapid interdecadal enhancement of the Walker circulation since the late 1990s. Associated with this enhancement is enhanced precipitation in the tropical western Pacific, anomalous westerlies in the upper troposphere, descent in the central and eastern tropical Pacific, and anomalous surface easterlies in the western and central tropical Pacific. The characteristics of associated oceanic changes are a strengthened thermocline slope and an enhanced zonal SST gradient across the tropical Pacific. Many characteristics of these changes are similar to those associated with the mid-1970s climate shift with an opposite sign. We also show that the interdecadal variability of the Walker circulation in the tropical Pacific is inversely correlated to the interdecadal variability of the zonal circulation in the tropical Atlantic. An enhancement of the Walker circulation in the tropical Pacific is associated with a weakening zonal circulation in the tropical Atlantic and vise versa, implying an inter-Atlantic-Pacific connection of the zonal overturning circulation variation. Whether these recent changes will be sustained is not yet clear, but our research highlights the importance of understanding the interdecadal variability, as well as the long-term trends, that influence tropical circulation.

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