Illustration from Scientific Research

Warming patches superposed on the warm pool induce anomalous ascent and increase the zonal and equatorial SST gradient, leading to a strengthening of the large-scale circulation. This is indicated by a stronger global-mean ascent at 500 hPa ( ${\Delta {\omega }}_{500}^{+} < 0$ ) and increased convective mass flux ( $\Delta {M}_{rm{c}}/{M}_{rm{c}} > 0$ ). Besides, this warming can also be communicated to the remote free troposphere and increase inversion strength, leading to an increased global low-cloud cover.

DOI