SOME REMARKS ON MECHANISMS FOR THE REGULATION OF TROPICAL SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE

R. T. Pierrehumbert

Department of Geophysical Sciences

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL 60637

It hardly needs elaboration that the regulation of tropical sea surface temperature is a central problem in climate, with repercussions ranging from the paleoclimatic domain (e.g. climate of the last glacial maximum vs. the warm climates of the Eocene) through the El Niño fluctuations of the present climate, and beyond to projections of climatic impact of anthropogenic CO2 increase. My object in this brief communication is to convey some of the substance of the spirited and stimulating exchange of ideas on the subject that took place at the NATO ARW to which this volume is devoted. The dialogue has by no means reached closure, and no doubt, the issues I discuss here will continue to be debated for some time to come. It would be safest to view this as my own ideosyncratic view on the subject, which may be wrong in some of its details, but hopefully wrong in an interesting way - or at least in a different way from previous works on the subject.

return to publication list
return to Raymond T. Pierrehumbert's home page
return to Geosciences home page