2014/09/22 by Antonietta Capotondi, Andrew T. Wittenberg, Matthew Newman +22 · 46 citations
Environmental Science · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Climate variability and models #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.1175/bams-d-13-00117.1
Abstract El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a naturally occurring mode of tropical Pacific variability, with global impacts on society and natural ecosystems. While it has long been known that El Niño events display a diverse range of amplitudes, triggers, spatial patterns, and life cycles, the realization that ENSO’s impacts can be highly sensitive to this event-to-event diversity is driving a renewed interest in the subject. This paper surveys our current state of knowledge of ENSO diversity, identifies key gaps in understanding, and outlines some promising future research directions.