Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

ANNIVERSARY RETROSPECTIVE

Slow warming and the ocean see-saw

The slowdown in surface warming in the early twenty-first century has been traced to strengthening of the Pacific trade winds. The search for the causes identifies a planetary-scale see-saw of atmosphere and ocean between the Atlantic and Pacific basins.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Inter-basin see-saw.

References

  1. Medhaug, T., Stolpe, M. B., Fischer, E. M. & Knutti, R. Nature 545, 41–47 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Schmidt, G. A., Shindell, D. T. & Tsigaridis, K. Nat. Geosci. 7, 158–160 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Yan, X.-H. et al. Earth’s Future 4, 472–482 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Delworth, T. L., Zeng, F., Rosati, A., Vecchi, G. A. & Wittenberg, A. T. J. Clim. 28, 3834–3845 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Lin, I.-I., Pun, I.-F. & Lien, C.-C. Geophys. Res. Lett. 41, 8547–8553 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. McGregor, S. et al. Nat. Clim. Change 4, 888–892 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Power, S., Casey, T., Folland, C., Colman, A. V. & Mehta, V. Clim. Dynam. 15, 319–324 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. England, M. E. et al. Nat. Clim. Change 4, 222–227 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Kosaka, Y. & Xie, S.-P. Nature 501, 403–407 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Li, X., Xie, S.-P., Gille, S. T. & Yoo, C. Nat. Clim. Change 6, 275–279 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Kucharski, F. et al. Clim. Dynam. 46, 2337–2351 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Meehl, G. A. et al. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 95, 243–267 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Chikamoto, Y. et al. Nat. Commun. 6, 6869 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Luo, J.-J., Sasaki, W. & Masumoto, Y. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 109, 18701–18706 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Xie, S.-P. et al. J. Clim. 23, 966–986 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Booth, B. B., Dunstone, N. J., Halloran, P. R., Andrews, T. & Bellouin, N. Nature 484, 228–232 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Takahashi, C. & Watanabe, M. Nat. Clim. Change 6, 768–772 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Robson, J., Sutton, R., Lohmann, K., Smith, D. & Palmer, M. D. J. Clim. 25, 4116–4134 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Meehl, G. A., Hu, A. & Teng, H. Nat. Commun. 7, 11718 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Boer, G. J. et al. Geosci. Model Dev. 9, 3751–3777 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Compo, G. P. et al. Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc. 137, 1–28 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Huang, B. et al. J. Clim. 30, 8179–8205 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yu Kosaka.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kosaka, Y. Slow warming and the ocean see-saw. Nature Geosci 11, 12–13 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-017-0038-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-017-0038-8

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing