Study of cloud cover in tropical Pacific reveals future climate changes

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-11/uomr-soc110415.php

Public Release: 4-Nov-2015
Study of cloud cover in tropical Pacific reveals future climate changes
UM Rosenstiel School researchers find new evidence for weakening of Walker circulation
University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science

A new analysis using changes in cloud cover over the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean showed that a weakening of a major atmospheric circulation system over the last century is due, in part, to increased greenhouse gas emissions. The findings from researchers at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science provide new evidence that climate change in the tropical Pacific will result in changes in rainfall patterns in the region and amplify warming near the equator in the future.

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This new information can be incorporated into current climate models to predict future changes in the magnitude and pattern of the Walker Circulation due to increased greenhouse gas emissions. The study suggests that rainfall will decrease over Indonesia and in the western Pacific and increase over the central Pacific Ocean.