Climate Change in the Antarctic Coastal Waters Transfers Tropical Region's Convective Clouds

Schematic of the Remote Correlation Mechanism between the Antarctic Offshore Sea and the Tropical Pacific.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Dooyul] The effect of climate change in the waters off Antarctica on the 'Pacific Ocean temperature change' has been identified.

Since changes in Pacific Ocean temperatures greatly influence the global climate, this discovery is expected to significantly aid in improving mid-latitude climate predictions, including those for South Korea, as well as future climate forecasting accuracy.

Professor Kang Sara's team from the Department of Urban Environmental Engineering at UNIST demonstrated through climate model experiments that "cooling of the waters off Antarctica lowers the sea surface temperature of the equatorial Pacific," publishing their findings on the 15th in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in the United States.

Existing climate models tend to overrepresent Southern Hemisphere tropical low clouds, which differs significantly from the actual tropical rainfall, typically located around 5 degrees north latitude on an annual average.

The temperature of the waters off Antarctica has been pointed out as the cause of this discrepancy, but it had not been clearly proven until now.

Professor Kang Sara's team clarified the correlation between the "temperature of the waters off Antarctica" and "tropical rainfall" through their research.

They identified that when the waters off Antarctica cool, the sea surface temperature of the tropical eastern Pacific decreases, causing tropical rainfall to shift northward.

Changes in Pacific Ocean Temperature and Tropical Rainfall Due to Cooling of the Antarctic Coastal Waters.

Kim Hanjun, the first author of the paper, stated, "The tropical rainfall errors in climate models have been a persistent problem unresolved for over 30 years," adding, "Our research revealed that reducing temperature errors of the waters off Antarctica in climate models can also reduce errors in tropical rainfall."

Changes in Pacific Ocean temperatures also affect the climate of mid-latitude regions.

For example, under the current climate, the La Ni?a phenomenon, where the equatorial eastern Pacific is cooler than the western Pacific, is observed; this phenomenon causes severe droughts in California, USA.

Until now, climate models have not been able to accurately simulate the patterns of Pacific Ocean temperature changes, resulting in low accuracy in mid-latitude climate predictions.

Corresponding author Professor Kang Sara explained, "Our study proposes the hypothesis that if the waters off Antarctica partially cool due to ozone layer depletion or freshwater inflow from Antarctica, Pacific Ocean temperature patterns similar to La Ni?a can appear in reality," adding, "Further research on these aspects could provide clues to improving climate prediction accuracy in mid-latitude regions."

The research team expects that the close relationship between the waters off Antarctica and the tropical Pacific will also impact future climate predictability.

As global warming progresses, the waters off Antarctica tend to warm more slowly compared to other regions, and this characteristic is believed to lead to changes in tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures and mid-latitude rainfall.

Researcher Kim Hanjun introduced follow-up research, saying, "We found that the relative cooling or warming of the waters off Antarctica affects the global climate in future climate predictions," and "Since clouds were an important factor in our study, we are now investigating how clouds influence future climate predictions."

The research was conducted with support from the Korea Research Foundation's Individual Research Support Project and the Korea Meteorological Industry Technology Institute.

Kang Sara, Professor of Urban Environmental Engineering at UNIST.

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