Global Impact of ENSO on Dust Activities with Emphasis on the Key Region from the Arabian Peninsula to Central Asia

Abstract

The El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has been found to be closely related to dust aerosol activities in many parts of the world. However, previous studies have rarely explored the ENSO’s impacts in the global context. In this study, the responses of the interannual variability of global atmospheric dust content to the ENSO cycle (including the eastern Pacific and central Pacific types) are examined using the MERRA‐2 atmospheric aerosol reanalysis data. The ENSO‐related tropical eastern Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the antecedent winter (November to January) have the most significant effect on the airborne dust content in a region from the Arabian Peninsula to Central Asia during the following spring and summer (April to July), which is identified as the key region (KR) of the ENSO’s impacts. The positive (negative) tropical eastern Pacific SST anomalies in the preceding winter during the El Niño (La Niña) years correspond to significantly reduced (increased) dust column content in the following spring and summer over the KR, which was confirmed using singular value decomposition. With the above (below)‐normal winter SST anomalies in the tropical eastern Pacific, the Walker Circulation weakens (strengthens), and the divergence (convergence) over the western tropical Pacific and the convergence (divergence) over the southern tropical Indian Ocean in the lower troposphere are strengthened, which facilitate (restrain) the southward diffusion of airborne dust in the KR. Meanwhile, the increased (decreased) precipitation and soil moisture and the corresponding vegetation conditions help limit (promote) the dust emission in the KR during the El Niño (La Niña) years.

Climate Change and Weather Extremes in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East

“…Dust activity exhibits a distinct seasonality with a spring/summer maximum and a winter minimum, driven by synoptic circulation and persistent or seasonal winds like the Shamal and Levar (Bou Karam Francis et al, 2017;Hamidi et al, 2013;Nelli, Fissehaye, et al, 2021;Rashki et al, 2019;Yu et al, 2016). Furthermore, the interrelation of large-scale atmospheric dynamics and teleconnection patterns, changes in sea surface temperature over the Indian Ocean and the Eastern Mediterranean, and displacements of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) affect the intra-seasonal and inter-annual variations of dust activity (Huang et al, 2021;Labban et al, 2021;Yu et al, 2015). Dust also affects the regional seas, for example, the (Gütschow et al, 2016(Gütschow et al, , 2021.…”

“…This peak and decline of CH4 in EMME countries is reconstructed from inventories and was not verified by atmospheric observations, although independent global methane measurements from ice cores suggest that fossil sources of methane peaked during the 1960s-70s and decreased sharply afterwards (Aydin et al, 2011). changes in sea surface temperature over the Indian Ocean and the eastern Mediterranean, and displacements of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) affect the intra-seasonal and interannual variations of dust activity (Yu et al, 2015;Labban et al, 2021;Huang et al, 2021). Dust also affects the regional seas, e.g., the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf (Osipov and Stenchikov, 2018).…”

Borneo Stalagmite Evidence of Significantly Reduced El Niño‐Southern Oscillation Variability at 4.1 kyBP

“…Since that time multiple proxy records have been published which do indeed verify enhanced winter and summer Shamal dust events and anomalously dry conditions in the Middle East region from ∼4.0 to 4.3 kyBP (Carolin et al., 2019; Cullen et al., 2000; Sharifi et al., 2015; Watanabe et al., 2019). Modern meteorological data suggests a possible relationship between regional dust events and ENSO (e.g., Huang et al., 2021). Arabian Peninsula dust activity from 1975 to 2012, for example, was found to be associated with anomalously cool tropical east Pacific SSTs on interannual timescales (Y. Yu et al., 2015).…”

“…Arabian Peninsula dust activity from 1975 to 2012, for example, was found to be associated with anomalously cool tropical east Pacific SSTs on interannual timescales (Y. Yu et al., 2015). Winter‐to‐spring La Niña conditions correlate with decreased rainfall across the primary dust source region of the Arabian Peninsula, and anticyclonic circulation over the central Arabian Peninsula enhances the Shamal winds (Y. Yu et al., 2015; Huang et al., 2021). The central Pacific coral and west Pacific stalagmite records' reduced interannual variability around 4.2 kyBP may be reflective of conditions in the tropical Pacific favorable to more frequent dust events in the Middle East at this time.…”

Atmosphere-Ocean Coupled Variability in the Arabian/Persian Gulf

“…Another study by Noori et al (2019), used the daily Optimum Interpolation SST anomaly (OISSTA) generated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to examine the Gulf spatio-temporal SST trends from 1982 to 2016 and link these to ENSO and NAO. Most other studies (Arun et al, 2005;Nezlin et al, 2010;Almazroui, 2012;Huang et al, 2021) have focused on the impacts of major climate modes (ENSO, Indian Ocean Dipole [IOD], and North Atlantic Oscillation [NAO]) on the Gulf 's air temperature and precipitation. Provided with these contexts, the Gulf 's SST modes were analyzed and their relationships to regional and global climate patterns were explored in aim of improving understanding of interannual to multi-decadal SST variability within the Gulf, and to determine its relation to major climate modes.…”