Work

Distinct Hadley circulation attributable to rapid and slow El Niño decay and its regional impacts

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: El Niño significantly impacts the global Hadley circulation (HC), however, the modulation of different decay rates of El Niño on the HC is overlooked. Our research reveals that rapid decay (RD) events cause the global HC to exhibit an equatorially asymmetric configuration, in contrast to the quasi-symmetric structure seen during slow decay (SD) events. This is primarily driven by HC anomalies in the central-eastern Pacific, influenced by anomalous sea surface temperatures that impact the conversion of atmospheric perturbation potential energy to kinetic energy. The structure of regional HC anomalies in the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP) exhibits contrasting patterns within different events. During RD (SD) events, the intensified (weakened) regional HC over the IPWP results in increased (decreased) terrestrial precipitation over its coastal countries. Therefore, our findings have important implications for understanding and predicting regional climate impacts associated with different El Niño decay patterns.

Source: npj Climate and Atmospheric Science

DOI: 10.1038/s41612-025-01221-7

Authors: Xuanliang Ji, Juan Feng, Jianping Li, Yazhou Zhang