On the dynamical mechanisms explaining the western Pacific subsurface temperature buildup leading to ENSO events

Despite steady progress in the understanding of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the past decades, questions remain on the exact mechanisms explaining the heat buildup leading to the onset of El Niño (EN) events. Here we use an ensemble of ocean and atmosphere assimilation products to identify mechanisms that are consistently identified by all the data sets and that contribute to the heat buildup in the western Pacific 18 to 24 months before the onset of EN events. Meridional and eastward heat advection due to equatorward subsurface mass convergence and transport along the equatorial undercurrent are found to contribute to the subsurface warming at 170°E–150°W. In the warm pool, instead, surface horizontal convergence and downwelling motion have a leading role in subsurface warming. The picture emerging from our results highlights a sharp dynamical transition at 170°E near the level of the thermocline

Climate change, cyclones and cholera - Implications for travel medicine and infectious diseases

Cholera, although largely underreported, is thought to be responsible for around 3 million diarrheal cases and an estimated 100,000 deaths in 69 endemic countries, predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia [1,2]. Cholera causes acute diarrheal episodes which result from the ingestion of the enterotoxin producing Vibrio cholerae, a highly motile, flagellated Gram-negative rod that exists in aquatic environments, like coastal waters and estuaries [3]. There are more than 200 serogroups based on the O antigen of its membrane's lipopolysaccharide. Only two serogroups cause epidemic cholera: O1 and O139. Since Vibrio Cholerae was first observed by Pacini more than 160 years ago, there have been several epidemics, mainly caused by serogroup O1 which may be divided into two biotypes: classical and El Tor. The latter is responsible for the current seventh pandemic and has substituted the classical biotype which is supposed to have caused the previous pandemics [3]. Each biotype is classified in three serotypes: Inaba, Ogawa (the most prevalent) and Hijokima (more rare)

Multiyear statistical prediction of ENSO enhanced by the tropical Pacific observing system

The theoretical predictability limit of El Niño-Southern Oscillation has been shown to be on the order of years, but long-lead predictions of El Niño (EN) and La Niña (LN) are still lacking. State-of-the-art forecasting schemes traditionally do not predict beyond the spring barrier. Recent efforts have been dedicated to the improvement of dynamical models, while statistical schemes still need to take full advantage of the availability of ocean subsurface variables, provided regularly for the last few decades as a result of the Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere Program (TOGA). Here we use a number of predictor variables, including temperature at different depths and regions of the equatorial ocean, in a flexible statistical dynamic components model to make skillful long-lead retrospective predictions (hindcasts) of the Niño-3.4 index in the period 1970-2016. The model hindcasts the major EN episodes up to 2.5 years in advance, including the recent extreme 2015/16 EN. The analysis demonstrates that events are predicted more accurately after the completion of the observational array in the tropical Pacific in 1994, as a result of the improved data quality and coverage achieved by TOGA. Therefore, there is potential to issue long-lead predictions of this climatic phenomenon at a low computational cost

Timing of subsurface heat magnitude for the growth of El Niño events

The subsurface heat buildup in the western tropical Pacific and the recharge phase in equatorial heat content are intrinsic elements of El Niño–Southern Oscillation, leading to changes in zonal wind stress, sea surface temperature, and thermocline tilt that characterize the growing and mature phases of El Niño (EN) events. Here we use numerical simulations to study the impact on subsequent EN episodes of a sudden increase or decrease in ocean heat content during the recharge phase and compare results with previous studies in which this perturbation is prescribed earlier during the tilting mode. We found that while not substantially affected by the phase at which a sudden rise in heat content is prescribed, the timing and magnitude of the events are very sensitive to the phase at which a major decrease is imposed. The different response to the phase of increases and decreases substantiates the importance of nonlinear subsurface ocean dynamics to the onset and growth of EN episodes and provides insight into the irreversibility of the events at different stages of the oscillation

Timing of subsurface heat magnitude for the growth of El Niño events

The subsurface heat buildup in the western tropical Pacific and the recharge phase in equatorial heat content are intrinsic elements of El Niño–Southern Oscillation, leading to changes in zonal wind stress, sea surface temperature, and thermocline tilt that characterize the growing and mature phases of El Niño (EN) events. Here we use numerical simulations to study the impact on subsequent EN episodes of a sudden increase or decrease in ocean heat content during the recharge phase and compare results with previous studies in which this perturbation is prescribed earlier during the tilting mode. We found that while not substantially affected by the phase at which a sudden rise in heat content is prescribed, the timing and magnitude of the events are very sensitive to the phase at which a major decrease is imposed. The different response to the phase of increases and decreases substantiates the importance of nonlinear subsurface ocean dynamics to the onset and growth of EN episodes and provides insight into the irreversibility of the events at different stages of the oscillation

Sensitivity of El Niño intensity and timing to preceding subsurface heat magnitude

Despite extensive ongoing efforts on improving the long-term prediction of El Niño-Southern Oscillation, the predictability in state-of-the-art operational schemes remains limited by factors such as the spring barrier and the influence of atmospheric winds. Recent research suggests that the 2014/15 El Niño (EN) event was stalled as a result of an unusually strong basin-wide easterly wind burst in June, which led to the discharge of a large fraction of the subsurface ocean heat. Here we use observational records and numerical experiments to explore the sensitivity of EN to the magnitude of the heat buildup occurring in the ocean subsurface 21 months in advance. Our simulations suggest that a large increase in heat content during this phase can lead to basin-wide uniform warm conditions in the equatorial Pacific the winter before the occurrence of a very strong EN event. In our model configuration, the system compensates any initial decrease in heat content and naturally evolves towards a new recharge, resulting in a delay of up to one year in the occurrence of an EN event. Both scenarios substantiate the non-linear dependency between the intensity of the subsurface heat buildup and the magnitude and timing of subsequent EN episodes

Kawasaki disease and ENSO-driven wind circulation

Kawasaki disease (KD) is the most common cause of acquired heart disease in children worldwide. Recently, a climatological study suggested that KD may be triggered by a windborne agent traveling across the north Pacific through the westerly wind flow prevailing at midlatitudes. Here we use KD records to describe the association between enhanced disease activity on opposite sides of the basin and different phases of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, via the linkage to these tropospheric winds. Results show that years with higher-than-normal KD cases in Japan preferentially occur during either El Niño Modoki or La Niña conditions, while in San Diego during the mature phase of El Niño or La Niña events. Given that ENSO offers a degree of predictability at lead times of 6 months, these modulations suggest that seasonal predictions of KD could be used to alert clinicians to periods of increased disease activity

Evaluating the performance of a climate-driven mortality model during heat waves and cold spells in Europe.

The impact of climate change on human health is a serious concern. In particular, changes in the frequency and intensity of heat waves and cold spells are of high relevance in terms of mortality and morbidity. This demonstrates the urgent need for reliable early-warning systems to help authorities prepare and respond to emergency situations. In this study, we evaluate the performance of a climate-driven mortality model to provide probabilistic predictions of exceeding emergency mortality thresholds for heat wave and cold spell scenarios. Daily mortality data corresponding to 187 NUTS2 regions across 16 countries in Europe were obtained from 1998-2003. Data were aggregated to 54 larger regions in Europe, defined according to similarities in population structure and climate. Location-specific average mortality rates, at given temperature intervals over the time period, were modelled to account for the increased mortality observed during both high and low temperature extremes and differing comfort temperatures between regions. Model parameters were estimated in a Bayesian framework, in order to generate probabilistic simulations of mortality across Europe for time periods of interest. For the heat wave scenario (1-15 August 2003), the model was successfully able to anticipate the occurrence or non-occurrence of mortality rates exceeding the emergency threshold (75th percentile of the mortality distribution) for 89% of the 54 regions, given a probability decision threshold of 70%. For the cold spell scenario (1-15 January 2003), mortality events in 69% of the regions were correctly anticipated with a probability decision threshold of 70%. By using a more conservative decision threshold of 30%, this proportion increased to 87%. Overall, the model performed better for the heat wave scenario. By replacing observed temperature data in the model with forecast temperature, from state-of-the-art European forecasting systems, probabilistic mortality predictions could potentially be made several months ahead of imminent heat waves and cold spells

Heat advection processes leading to El Niño events as depicted by an ensemble of ocean assimilation products

The oscillatory nature of El Niño-Southern Oscillation results from an intricate superposition of near-equilibrium balances and out-of-phase disequilibrium processes between the ocean and the atmosphere. The main objective of the present work is to perform an exhaustive spatiotemporal analysis of the upper ocean heat budget in an ensemble of state-of-the-art ocean assimilation products. We put specific emphasis on the ocean heat advection mechanisms, and their representation in individual ensemble members and in the different stages of the ENSO oscillation leading to EN events. Our analyses consistently show that the initial subsurface warming in the western equatorial Pacific is advected to the central Pacific by the equatorial undercurrent, which, together with the equatorward advection associated with anomalies in both the meridional temperature gradient and circulation at the level of the thermocline, explains the heat buildup in the central Pacific during the recharge phase. We also find that the recharge phase is characterized by an increase of meridional tilting of the thermocline, as well as a southward upper-ocean cross-equatorial mass transport resulting from Ekman-induced anomalous vertical motion in the off-equatorial regions. Although differences between data sets are generally small, and anomalies tend to have the same sign, the differences in the magnitude of the meridional term are seen to be key for explaining the different propagation speed of the subsurface warming tendency along the thermocline. The only exception is GECCO, which does not produce the patterns of meridional surface Ekman divergence (subsurface Sverdrup convergence) in the western and central equatorial Pacific

Advantages of using a fast urban boundary layer model as compared to a full mesoscale model to simulate the urban heat island of Barcelona

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