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Northern Galápagos Corals Reveal Twentieth Century Warming in the Eastern Tropical Pacific
Author(s) -
Jimenez Gloria,
Cole Julia E.,
Thompson Diane M.,
Tudhope Alexander W.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2017gl075323
Subject(s) - equator , climatology , boreal , oceanography , forcing (mathematics) , subtropics , sea surface temperature , upwelling , radiative forcing , global warming , environmental science , geology , climate change , latitude , ecology , paleontology , geodesy , biology
Models and observations disagree regarding sea surface temperature (SST) trends in the eastern tropical Pacific. We present a new Sr/Ca‐SST record that spans 1940–2010 from two Wolf Island corals (northern Galápagos). Trend analysis of the Wolf record shows significant warming on multiple timescales, which is also present in several other records and gridded instrumental products. Together, these data sets suggest that most of the eastern tropical Pacific has warmed over the twentieth century. In contrast, recent decades have been characterized by warming during boreal spring and summer (especially north of the equator), and subtropical cooling during boreal fall and winter (especially south of the equator). These SST trends are consistent with the effects of radiative forcing, mitigated by cooling due to wind forcing during boreal winter, as well as intensified upwelling and a strengthened Equatorial Undercurrent.