El Niño-La Niña cycle and recent trends in continental evaporation

Miralles, Diego G.; van den Berg, Martinus J.; Gash, John H.; Parinussa, Robert M.; de Jeu, Richard A.M; Beck, Hylke E.; Holmes, Thomas R.H; Jimenez, Carlos; Verhoest, Niko E.C.; Dorigo, Wouter A.; Teuling, Adriaan J.; Dolman, A. Johannes. 2014 El Niño-La Niña cycle and recent trends in continental evaporation. Nature Climate Change, 4 (2). 122-126. 10.1038/nclimate2068

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Abstract/Summary

The hydrological cycle is expected to intensify in response to global warming. Yet, little unequivocal evidence of such an acceleration has been found on a global scale. This holds in particular for terrestrial evaporation, the crucial return flow of water from land to atmosphere. Here we use satellite observations to reveal that continental evaporation has increased in northern latitudes, at rates consistent with expectations derived from temperature trends. However, at the global scale, the dynamics of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) have dominated the multi-decadal variability. During El Niño, limitations in terrestrial moisture supply result in vegetation water stress and reduced evaporation in eastern and central Australia, southern Africa and eastern South America. The opposite situation occurs during La Niña. Our results suggest that recent multi-year declines in global average continental evaporation reflect transitions to El Niño conditions, and are not the consequence of a persistent reorganization of the terrestrial water cycle. Future changes in continental evaporation will be determined by the response of ENSO to changes in global radiative forcing, which still remains highly uncertain.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1038/nclimate2068
Programmes:	CEH Topics & Objectives 2009 - 2012 > Biogeochemistry
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	UKCEH Fellows
ISSN:	1758-678X
NORA Subject Terms:	Meteorology and Climatology
Date made live:	07 Jan 2014 15:20 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/504427

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