Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Statistical cluster analysis applied to monthly 1–100 m ocean temperatures reveals El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) dipole patterns with a leading mode having opposing centers of action across the dateline and tropical east Pacific. We focus on the La Niña cold phase and study its impact on the Caribbean climate over the period of 1980–2024. East dipole time scores are used to identify composite years, and anomaly patterns are calculated for Jan-Jun and Jul-Dec. Convective responses over the Caribbean exhibit seasonal contrasts: dry winter–spring and wet summer–autumn. Trade winds and currents across the southern Caribbean weaken and lead to anomalous warming of upper ocean temperatures. Sustained coastal upwelling off Peru and Ecuador during east La Niña is teleconnected with easterly wind shear and tropical cyclogenesis over the Caribbean during summer, leading to costly impacts. This ocean–atmosphere coupling is quite different from the more common central Pacific ENSO dipole.
Source: Atmosphere
Author: Mark R. Jury
Institutions: University of Zululand, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,896
Funder: Universidad Nacional de Trujillo
OpenAlex ID: W4409633853