Reaching net zero sooner would limit long-lasting changes to El Niño and the tropical Pacific, new climate modelling suggests, although heat stored deep in the ocean means changes to the tropical Pacific could persist for centuries.
Reaching net zero sooner would limit long-lasting changes to El Niño and the tropical Pacific, new climate modelling suggests, although heat stored deep in the ocean means changes to the tropical Pacific could persist for centuries.
The study, published today in Communications Earth & Environment and led by researchers from the University of Melbourne and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Weather of the 21st Century, examined what happens to the tropical Pacific both while the planet is warming and after carbon dioxide emissions cease.
The research found that stopping emissions would not immediately return the tropical Pacific to its pre-industrial state. Instead, changes to ocean temperatures, winds and rainfall patterns could endure for hundreds of years.
Lead author University of Melbourne Aditya Sengupta said that stopping emissions remained essential but would not instantly reverse all the changes already set in motion.
Read More: University of Melbourne
