Authors
Anya V Hess, Shawn Wang, Caroline C Ummenhofer, Yair Rosenthal, Delia W Oppo
Published in
Science advances. Volume 12. Issue 39. Pages eaee8322. Sep 25, 2026. Epub Sep 23, 2026.
Abstract
Reconstructions of climate over the past millennium provide context for disentangling anthropogenic forcing from natural multidecadal variability. However, the strength of the east-west tropical Pacific atmospheric circulation (the Pacific Walker Circulation) during the Little Ice Age (LIA; approximately 1450 to 1850 CE), our most recent cool period, remains a subject of debate. Hydroclimate reconstructions suggest strengthening during the LIA, whereas a decrease in tropical Pacific zonal sea-surface temperature gradient suggests weakening. We present a third line of evidence, the surface-to-thermocline temperature difference in the Indonesian Seas, which was smaller during the LIA than during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (approximately 950 to 1250 CE), suggesting a deeper thermocline, in agreement with hydroclimate evidence for a stronger LIA Walker Circulation. Our finding that the Walker Circulation strengthened in association with LIA cooling is consistent with model projections of a weaker Walker Circulation in a warming world and with the expectation that the recent strengthening trend will ultimately reverse.
PMID:
42777047
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 24 Sep 2026.
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