A coupled ocean-atmosphere model study investigates how weather conditions outside the tropics affect climate at the equator. It is the first study to distinguish specific causes for changes in tropical conditions from the non-tropical atmospheric environment and helps to establish the cause of water temperature changes in the tropical seas.
It was found that a 2 degree Celsius warming in the sea surface temperature from outside the tropical regions produces a 1 degree Celsius increase in the surface and subsurface equatorial ocean temperature.
