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Intertropical Convergence Zone

The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is a zonally elongated band of atmospheric convergence near the equator where the northeasterly trade winds of the Northern Hemisphere and southeasterly trade winds of the Southern Hemisphere meet, driving upward motion of warm, moist air that produces persistent cloud cover, intense convection, and heavy precipitation in the form of thunderstorms.^[1]^[2] This feature encircles the globe roughly along the thermal equator but exhibits dynamic variability, including seasonal north-south migrations tied to the apparent movement of the sun and interhemispheric temperature contrasts, which shift its position by several degrees of latitude to follow maximum solar insolation.^[3]^[4] The ITCZ forms as a consequence of differential solar heating at the equator, where excess energy input relative to higher latitudes generates a thermally direct circulation cell—part of the broader Hadley circulation—characterized by surface inflow, ascent, and divergence aloft, with minimal zonal wind speeds in its core often leading to the historical "doldrums" known for calm conditions hazardous to sailing.^[5] Its precipitation belt accounts for a significant portion of global tropical rainfall, exerting causal influence on regional hydroclimates, including the onset and intensity of monsoons in Africa, South Asia, and the Americas, while disruptions in its position or intensity—such as double ITCZ structures or meridional shifts—can alter drought-flood cycles and ecosystem productivity.^[6]^[7] Observational data from satellites and reanalyses confirm its role in modulating interannual variability, linked to phenomena like El Niño-Southern Oscillation through teleconnections that propagate energy imbalances across the tropics.^[8]

Physical Mechanisms

Trade Wind Convergence and Formation

The northeast trade winds of the Northern Hemisphere and southeast trade winds of the Southern Hemisphere, both easterly surface winds typically ranging from 10 to 25 miles per hour (16 to 40 kilometers per hour), originate as equatorward return flows within the Hadley circulation cell but are deflected by the Coriolis effect due to Earth's rotation.^[9] In the Northern Hemisphere, the Coriolis force deflects southward-moving air to the right, resulting in northeasterly trades; in the Southern Hemisphere, deflection to the left produces southeasterly trades.^[9] This deflection maintains the trades as persistent, moisture-laden winds that transport water vapor evaporated from tropical oceans toward the equator.^[9] These trade winds converge near the thermal equator, where the position aligns closely with maximum solar heating, forming the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) as a narrow band of enhanced surface inflow.^[5] The opposing flows meet and merge, reducing wind speeds in the convergence area and establishing a belt of relatively low atmospheric pressure.^[5] Empirical observations confirm this convergence as the primary driver of the ITCZ's location, with the trades' easterly components ensuring east-west continuity across ocean basins.^[2] From principles of atmospheric mass conservation, the horizontal influx of air at the surface accumulates mass, generating a local pressure gradient that necessitates vertical divergence to restore balance, thereby initiating upward motion.^[10] This ascent occurs as converging air piles up, increasing density near the surface until buoyancy forces it aloft, independent of subsequent convective or latent heat processes.^[10] The resulting low-pressure trough persists as long as the trade wind convergence supplies mass, embodying the causal linkage between surface dynamics and vertical structure in tropical circulation.^[5]

Vertical Motion and Associated Phenomena

The convergence of surface trade winds within the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) forces air parcels upward, initiating vigorous vertical motion that penetrates deep into the troposphere.^[5] This ascent promotes the development of cumulonimbus clouds, which often organize into mesoscale convective systems featuring intense thunderstorms and narrow bands of heavy precipitation.^[11] Empirical observations from field campaigns, such as GATE, reveal that this deep convection concentrates in cloud clusters with rapid vertical velocities, typically exceeding those in surrounding regions.^[12] The thermodynamic processes driving this convection involve the release of latent heat from water vapor condensation and freezing aloft, which warms the air parcels and reduces their density relative to the environment.^[13] This buoyancy-driven amplification sustains and intensifies the upward motion, creating a positive feedback that maintains the ITCZ's convective vigor against radiative cooling.^[14] In the tropics, where sea surface temperatures exceed 26.5°C, this latent heat release can elevate cloud tops to 15-18 km, near the level of neutral buoyancy at the tropopause.^[15] Satellite and radar data confirm the ITCZ's typical latitudinal width of 200-500 km, within which precipitation rates often surpass 10 mm per hour in active convective cells.^[16] These features manifest as persistent cloud bands visible in outgoing longwave radiation minima, underscoring the causal link between low-level convergence and upper-level divergence facilitated by the convective tower structure.^[17]

Geographical Variations

Differences Over Oceans and Land

The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) exhibits greater stability over oceans than over land, primarily due to the higher heat capacity of seawater, which results in more uniform sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and dampened seasonal temperature fluctuations. Over oceanic regions, the ITCZ tends to closely follow the thermal equator, defined by maximum SSTs, with migrations typically limited to a few degrees latitude annually, as ocean circulation efficiently transports heat across the equator and resists rapid shifts.^[18]^[19] This stability manifests in a narrower, more zonally continuous band of convection, as observed in satellite-derived precipitation data, where the ITCZ width over tropical oceans averages around 5-7 degrees of latitude.^[20] In contrast, over continental surfaces, the ITCZ displays heightened seasonal variability owing to land's lower heat capacity, which allows for rapid surface heating and cooling, driving amplified meridional migrations. During Northern Hemisphere summer, intense continental heating—such as over Africa and Asia—propels the ITCZ northward by up to 20 degrees latitude, reaching positions as far as 25°N over parts of the African Sahel in July and August, fueling monsoon systems.^[21] This leads to a broader and more disrupted structure over land, with widths often exceeding 10 degrees latitude and irregular features influenced by topography and surface heterogeneity, as evidenced by reanalysis and satellite observations showing fragmented convective clusters rather than uniform bands.^[22] Empirical contrasts from global datasets, including ERA-Interim reanalyses spanning 1979-2010, confirm that oceanic ITCZ convection is more persistent and symmetric about the equator, while land-based features show sharper latitudinal jumps tied to differential heating rates—for instance, land surfaces warm 5-10 times faster than oceans under equivalent insolation.^[20] These differences arise from causal thermal contrasts rather than remote dynamical forcings, with land's lower moisture availability further intensifying convective outbreaks during peak heating.^[23] Satellite imagery from instruments like TRMM (1998-2015) further reveals narrower precipitation maxima over Pacific and Atlantic oceans compared to the diffuse, monsoon-linked ITCZ over Eurasia and Africa.^[7]

South Pacific Convergence Zone

The South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) constitutes a semi-permanent, diagonally oriented extension of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), stretching southeastward from the equatorial western Pacific, near New Guinea, across the open ocean toward subtropical latitudes around 20°–25°S and 150°–160°W, approaching regions like French Polynesia.^[24]^[25] This structure arises from the convergence of southeasterly trade winds with northwesterly monsoon flows, modulated by meridional sea surface temperature (SST) gradients in the Pacific, which favor persistent low-level convergence and ascent along the diagonal axis rather than a purely zonal band.^[26] Ocean currents, including the southward-flowing equatorial currents and the broader South Pacific gyre, reinforce this by transporting heat and moisture southward, sustaining the zone's convective activity year-round.^[27] In contrast to the standard ITCZ, which typically aligns east-west near the equator and undergoes pronounced seasonal latitudinal migrations, the SPCZ maintains greater stationarity, with its core position varying by only a few degrees latitude annually, owing to the fixed SST asymmetry across the Pacific basin.^[28] This results in a less symmetric configuration, particularly in the eastern Pacific where the SPCZ often parallels a northern ITCZ branch, forming dual convergence zones separated by a dry subtropical band influenced by South American coastal upwelling.^[29] Topographic effects from island chains, such as those in Fiji and Samoa, further localize convergence but do not fundamentally alter the oceanic-driven diagonal tilt.^[30] The SPCZ exerts pronounced control over regional hydrology, channeling intense rainfall—often exceeding 200 mm per event during active phases—to southwest Pacific islands, as evidenced by frequent flooding in Fiji's Rewa Province linked to enhanced SPCZ convection.^[31] Conversely, its position diverts moisture away from adjacent areas, contributing to persistent aridity in the southeast Pacific dry zone east of 110°W, where annual precipitation drops below 500 mm due to divergence and subsidence.^[28] Paleoclimate records from coral Sr/Ca ratios indicate that SPCZ extensions have influenced South Pacific SST and salinity patterns over centuries, with southeastward shifts correlating to fresher, warmer surface waters in the convergence core.^[32]

Regional Asymmetries and Double ITCZ Features

The annual mean position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is shifted northward of the equator by about 5° to 7° latitude, primarily due to the disproportionate land coverage in the Northern Hemisphere, which generates enhanced heating contrasts and a stronger ascending branch in the Northern Hemisphere Hadley cell compared to its southern counterpart.^[33] This asymmetry arises from the thermal response of land surfaces to insolation, amplifying meridional temperature gradients and favoring convergence north of the equator on average, as evidenced by analyses of sea surface temperature (SST) patterns and atmospheric circulation.^[34] Oceanic influences further accentuate regional non-uniformity, with cross-equatorial SST gradients in the Pacific and Atlantic sustaining the northward bias through altered surface winds and moisture convergence, independent of purely land-driven effects.^[35] Reanalysis products such as ERA5 reveal that this positioning results in the Northern Hemisphere ITCZ accounting for the majority of zonal-mean tropical precipitation, with annual rainfall maxima exceeding southern counterparts by factors of 1.5 to 2 in key sectors.^[36] In the eastern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, double ITCZ configurations occasionally emerge, featuring distinct convective bands in both hemispheres separated by an equatorial suppression zone.^[37] These structures, observed particularly during boreal spring, stem from the equatorial cold tongue—a region of cooler SSTs that inhibits upward motion at the equator, enabling southern extensions alongside the primary northern band and yielding bimodal precipitation peaks straddling 5°S to 5°N.^[38] ERA5 data confirm these features' episodic nature, with double bands contributing up to 20-30% of local rainfall variability in affected oceanic domains while underscoring the ITCZ's deviation from zonal symmetry.^[36]

Variability and Dynamics

Seasonal Migration

The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) exhibits seasonal latitudinal migrations driven by the north-south progression of maximum solar insolation, which follows the subsolar point and alters the thermal equator's position. In the Northern Hemisphere summer (June-August), the ITCZ shifts northward to latitudes typically between 5°N and 20°N, depending on the region, such as 5°-15°N over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.^[39] In contrast, during the Southern Hemisphere summer (December-February), it migrates southward to approximately 5°-10°S over similar basins.^[5] These movements result from differential heating that strengthens convergence where trade winds meet under peak insolation.^[40] Empirical tracking via satellite-derived precipitation data and surface wind observations verifies annual latitudinal shifts of about 10°-25° from solstice to solstice, with the ITCZ position aligning closely with zones of maximum rainfall and low-level wind convergence.^[41] For instance, outgoing longwave radiation minima and enhanced convective activity delineate the ITCZ's path, confirming its equatorward retreat during equinoxes and poleward advance toward summer hemispheres.^[2] This seasonal oscillation directly modulates tropical wet and dry seasons by transporting moisture convergence to higher latitudes. In the Sahel region of Africa, the northward migration during boreal summer delivers substantial rainfall, transitioning the area from dry conditions to peak precipitation aligned with the ITCZ's passage.^[5] Similarly, southward shifts in austral summer influence wet seasons in the Amazon basin, where the ITCZ's position correlates with enhanced rainfall totals verified through ground station and satellite records.^[42] These patterns underscore the ITCZ's role in annual climate cycles without encompassing interannual deviations.

Interannual Fluctuations and ENSO Influence

The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) exhibits interannual fluctuations characterized by deviations in its latitudinal position, width, and convective intensity from seasonal norms, often on timescales of months to a few years. These variations arise from interactions with large-scale atmospheric and oceanic oscillations, including the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). During El Niño phases, the ITCZ typically undergoes a southward shift in the western Pacific, accompanied by suppressed convection over the equatorial Pacific due to anomalous warming in the eastern Pacific that weakens easterly trade winds and reduces low-level convergence.^[43]^[44] In contrast, La Niña conditions enhance trade wind strength, promoting a northward shift of the ITCZ in the western Pacific and intensifying convection, with empirical analyses of precipitation data from 1979 onward showing that anomalously wide ITCZ configurations—spanning greater meridional extents—occur predominantly during La Niña events, accounting for 41 of 50 such months when defined by multivariate ENSO index thresholds exceeding ±0.5.^[43]^[45] The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), a dominant intraseasonal mode with periods of 30-60 days, further modulates ITCZ intensity by propagating eastward through the tropical Indo-Pacific, suppressing or enhancing convective activity within the zone's core. MJO events often initiate near the ITCZ in the western Pacific, where equatorial convergence provides a favorable environment, but the ITCZ's presence alone is neither necessary nor sufficient for MJO onset, as demonstrated by satellite and reanalysis data from the DYNAMO field campaign in 2011-2012.^[46] Volcanic eruptions introduce transient perturbations via stratospheric aerosol loading, which cools the troposphere asymmetrically and displaces the ITCZ poleward from the hemisphere of greater aerosol influence; for instance, Southern Hemisphere eruptions like Pinatubo in 1991 shifted the ITCZ southward, inducing La Niña-like responses lasting 1-4 years through altered energy transport and trade wind anomalies.^[47]^[48] These effects, observed in global precipitation records post-eruption, underscore the ITCZ's sensitivity to radiative forcing imbalances on interannual scales.^[49]

Weather and Climate Impacts

Rainfall Patterns and Monsoons

The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) generates the majority of equatorial rainfall through the ascent of moist air resulting from trade wind convergence, producing intense convective precipitation bands that can exceed 200 mm per day in peak activity.^[5] This zone accounts for approximately 32% of global annual precipitation, with its narrow band concentrating a disproportionate share of tropical rainfall relative to its latitudinal extent.^[7] Empirical observations from satellite data indicate that ITCZ-associated rains dominate the annual precipitation totals in equatorial oceans and landmasses, where mean monthly rainfall often surpasses 300 mm during the ITCZ's overhead passage.^[2] The seasonal migration of the ITCZ, tracking the thermal equator, establishes distinct rainfall patterns across the tropics, with maximum precipitation occurring where the zone aligns overhead and deficits prevailing in its absence.^[2] In regions like the equatorial Pacific and Atlantic, this migration results in bimodal rainfall peaks for areas straddling the equator, while unimodal regimes characterize higher-latitude tropics.^[50] Over land, the ITCZ's position amplifies these patterns through interactions with surface heating, leading to prolonged wet seasons when convergence strengthens local updrafts. The ITCZ significantly enhances monsoon rainfall in Asia and Africa by merging with seasonally reversing winds driven by land-ocean thermal contrasts, thereby intensifying moisture influx and convergence.^[51] In the African monsoon, the ITCZ's northward advance during boreal summer delivers 600-1000 mm of rain to the Sahel, supplementing local land-sea breeze circulations that draw in Atlantic moisture.^[52] Similarly, in South Asia, the ITCZ's poleward shift aligns with the southwest monsoon, boosting precipitation over India through combined large-scale ascent and orographic effects, with totals reaching 2000-3000 mm annually in core monsoon zones.^[51] Empirical evidence from the Sahel illustrates the ITCZ's influence on rainfall variability: during the 1970s and 1980s, a persistent southward migration of the ITCZ, linked to anomalous sea surface temperatures, reduced zonal-mean rainfall by over 30% relative to the 1950s wet period, exacerbating droughts across the region.^[53] ^[54] Recovery in Sahel precipitation since the early 1990s correlates with a northward ITCZ repositioning, restoring annual rains to near pre-drought levels in many areas, as documented in gauge and satellite records.^[55] These shifts underscore the ITCZ's causal role in modulating monsoon intensity without invoking extraneous teleconnections beyond thermodynamic forcing.^[56]

Role in Tropical Cyclone Genesis

The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) generates synoptic-scale disturbances, such as tropical easterly waves, that provide the initial vorticity and convective organization essential for tropical cyclone genesis. In the Atlantic basin, African easterly waves propagating westward along the ITCZ axis serve as precursors for approximately 60% of tropical cyclones, with these waves featuring mid-level troughs that foster low-level convergence and potential vorticity anomalies conducive to development. Similar wave trains occur globally within or near the ITCZ, enhancing the likelihood of cyclone formation by concentrating moisture and upward motion in regions of weak vertical wind shear.^[57] The latitudinal position of the ITCZ modulates tropical cyclone genesis through its influence on the Coriolis parameter, with poleward shifts placing disturbances at higher absolute latitudes where the parameter's magnitude (2Ω sinφ) is greater, thereby promoting rotational organization and intensification over the minimal values near the equator. Observational data reveal a robust interannual positive correlation between ITCZ latitude and cyclone genesis frequency in the North Atlantic, where northward displacements align the convergence zone with warmer sea surface temperatures, higher relative humidity, and reduced wind shear, resulting in elevated activity during seasons when the ITCZ exceeds approximately 5°N.^[44]^[58] Volcanic eruptions exemplify this positional sensitivity, as stratospheric aerosol injections induce hemispheric cooling asymmetries that drive southward ITCZ migrations, suppressing Northern Hemisphere cyclone genesis for 2–4 years post-eruption by diminishing the genesis potential index through altered thermodynamics and vorticity availability. For instance, the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption correlated with a pronounced ITCZ southward shift and reduced Atlantic tropical cyclone counts in subsequent seasons, consistent with statistical analyses of historical eruptions.^[47]^[59]

Hazards and Risks

Meteorological Dangers

The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) generates intense convective activity, producing cumulonimbus (CB) clouds with tops frequently exceeding 40,000 feet (12 km), driven by strong updrafts from converging trade winds and high tropical moisture. These storms embed hazards including severe turbulence from interactions between updrafts and downdrafts, hail, lightning strikes, and icing conditions, particularly in regions of weak trade winds where isolated CB cells dominate.^[39]^[60] Wind shear within these systems, arising from rapid changes in wind speed and direction near storm cores, poses risks to aircraft stability and low-level shipping, with vertical shear gradients often exceeding 10 m/s per km.^[61] Squall lines embedded in ITCZ convection deliver gust fronts with winds up to 50 knots (93 km/h), exacerbating turbulence and low-visibility conditions for trans-equatorial flights.^[5] Heavy precipitation rates, commonly surpassing 50 mm per hour in active cells, contribute to microburst downdrafts and associated wind shears hazardous to aviation approaches and maritime operations. Pilots routinely plan ITCZ crossings during periods of minimal activity, using satellite imagery and radar to circumvent clusters, as direct penetration can result in structural stress from clear air turbulence extending tens of miles from visible convection.^[39] Meteorological records document recurrent encounters, such as routine deviations in equatorial Atlantic routes where ITCZ bands force altitude changes or rerouting to mitigate hail ingestion and engine icing risks.^[60]

Socioeconomic and Environmental Consequences

The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) drives monsoon rainfall critical for tropical agriculture, supporting crops like millet and sorghum in West Africa, where over 70% of the population depends on rain-fed farming for livelihoods.^[62] Aberrations in ITCZ positioning, however, trigger droughts that devastate yields; the southward withdrawal of the ITCZ from the 1960s to 1980s desiccated the Sahel region, contributing to famines between 1970 and 1984 that killed approximately 100,000 people and displaced millions, with rainfall deficits exceeding 200 mm annually in core areas.^[63]^[64] Environmentally, ITCZ precipitation exceeding 2,000 mm per year sustains biodiversity hotspots in equatorial rainforests, enabling complex ecosystems with over 10% of global species in regions like the Congo Basin.^[65] Shifts in ITCZ location induce drought stress, reducing lowland rainforest cover and altering biome distributions through threshold effects on vegetation.^[66] In oceanic realms, ITCZ dynamics modulate trade wind strength, influencing coastal upwelling; northward ITCZ migrations weaken upwelling off eastern boundaries like the Pacific, diminishing nutrient fluxes that underpin fisheries producing up to 20% of global catch, thereby threatening protein sources for coastal populations.^[67] Conversely, the ITCZ's equatorial persistence stabilizes discharge in major rivers such as the Congo, with year-round variability under 20%, ensuring perennial water availability for riparian ecosystems and human settlements.^[68]

Historical Development

Early Observations and Conceptualization

![Historical depiction of the doldrums][float-right] Mariners have long recognized the equatorial region of light and variable winds, referred to as the doldrums, which posed significant challenges to sailing vessels by causing prolonged periods of immobility. These calms were noted in accounts dating back to the Age of Sail, with sailors experiencing the belt of low pressure near the equator where trade winds converged weakly, leading to unpredictable weather and stalled progress.^[3] The term "doldrums" emerged in the early 19th century among sailors marooned in these windless zones, highlighting the frustration of ships becalmed for days or weeks.^[69] Systematic documentation appeared in 18th- and 19th-century ship logs, which recorded observations of equatorial convergence through entries on wind directions, speeds, and storm occurrences. Analyses of digitized logs from over 7 million journal entries reveal concentrated ship traffic and delays in the doldrums, underscoring the convergence of northeast and southeast trade winds into areas of rising air and frequent squalls.^[70] In the 1920s to 1940s, meteorologists conceptualized the phenomenon as the Intertropical Front (ITF), depicting it on weather maps as a discontinuity between moist equatorial air and drier trade wind regimes, akin to extratropical fronts. This frontal model was applied particularly in regions like West Africa, where it marked the boundary between the harmattan and monsoon flows.^[71] Post-World War II, wartime advancements in upper-air observations revealed the ITCZ's character as a zone of dynamic mass convergence rather than a static boundary, prompting the shift to the term Intertropical Convergence Zone to emphasize the inflow of trade winds and associated vertical motion.^[72]

Advancements in Understanding

The introduction of geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites in the 1970s marked a pivotal advancement in ITCZ research, enabling global visualization of its convective structure and migratory patterns. Observations from satellites during the Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP) era, including data spanning 1967–1971, quantified interannual variations in convective activity over regions like the GATE area, revealing organized cloud clusters and their propagation speeds.^[73] These datasets supplanted sparse ship-based measurements, providing empirical evidence of the ITCZ's zonal asymmetry and links to large-scale circulation.^[74] Reanalysis products developed from the 1990s onward further refined quantification of ITCZ variability by assimilating satellite and in-situ data into consistent atmospheric states. Datasets such as ERA5 and the 20th Century Reanalysis (20CR) have delineated decadal shifts and regional intensities, with ERA5 capturing ITCZ position fluctuations from 1998–2018 across global and oceanic domains.^[75] ^[76] These tools have isolated convective versus large-scale precipitation trends within the ITCZ, attributing boreal summer changes to thermodynamic influences.^[77] Theoretically, Jule Charney's 1969 analysis of large-scale tropical motions established key principles for ITCZ dynamics, highlighting conditional instability of the second kind (CISK) as a mechanism for wave amplification and convergence.^[78] Building on this, post-2010 frameworks emphasized energy balance constraints, positing that ITCZ latitude aligns with the atmospheric energy flux equator to balance hemispheric radiative imbalances via meridional transport.^[79] ^[80] In recent years, investigations into salinity feedbacks and community structures have nuanced these dynamics. A 2024 study applied network analysis to precipitation data, identifying seven tropical communities defined by ITCZ spatio-temporal coherence, underscoring regional autonomy in convective organization.^[81] Concurrently, analyses of mid-20th-century Atlantic freshening linked salinity gradients to ITCZ southward shifts via sea surface temperature perturbations, integrating ocean-atmosphere coupling into positional theories.^[82] These empirical and theoretical strides, grounded in verifiable datasets, continue to resolve longstanding ambiguities in ITCZ predictability.

Climate Change Perspectives

Empirical Observations of Changes

In the Atlantic sector during the mid-20th century, observations indicate a southward migration of the ITCZ linked to sea-surface freshening and weakened SST gradients, contributing to reduced rainfall in the Sahel region.^[83]^[82] However, zonal-mean analyses of precipitation and circulation data reveal no robust latitudinal shift in ITCZ position over the full 20th century, with variations primarily driven by interhemispheric SST contrasts on multidecadal timescales rather than a persistent trend.^[40]^[84] Satellite and reanalysis data from 1998 to 2018, extended through recent decades up to the early 2020s, show minimal net latitudinal changes in the global ITCZ position, with interannual fluctuations dominated by natural modes such as ENSO, which modulate ITCZ intensity and regional precipitation without evidence of a sustained directional shift.^[85]^[41] Long-term trends in ITCZ strength exhibit weak variations, often within 3° latitude, tied to thermodynamic adjustments rather than dynamical reorganization.^[86] ENSO events, for instance, induce temporary northward or southward displacements of up to several degrees in specific basins, but these revert with phase changes, underscoring variability over trend.^[87] Proxy records from the mid-Holocene (approximately 6,000 years ago) contrast with modern stability, documenting expansions of ITCZ influence and northward migrations of up to 1° latitude in regions like the Indo-Pacific, inferred from speleothem oxygen isotopes and enhanced monsoon precipitation signals.^[88] These paleoclimate shifts, driven by orbital precession amplifying seasonal insolation, resulted in broader zonal rainfall bands and intensified convective activity compared to 20th- and 21st-century observations, where such extremes are absent in instrumental records.^[89]^[86]

Model-Based Projections

Climate models participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) generally project a narrowing of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) under global warming scenarios, with the zonal extent of ascent weakening and contracting equatorward.^[40] This narrowing is linked to alterations in the moist static energy budget, where enhanced gross moist stability reduces the meridional scale of convection.^[90] Multimodel ensembles under scenarios like SSP3-7.0 indicate a median ITCZ width reduction of approximately 0.14° latitude per Kelvin of warming, primarily through a northward displacement of the southern ITCZ edge by about 0.8° latitude in the multimodel mean.^[40]^[91] Projections for ITCZ position exhibit zonally asymmetric shifts, with robust northward migration over eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean, contrasted by southward shifts over the eastern Pacific and Atlantic basins by the end of the 21st century.^[92] These patterns arise from projected sea surface temperature (SST) gradients and interhemispheric energy imbalances, where relatively faster Northern Hemisphere warming drives poleward (northward) ITCZ displacement to restore radiative equilibrium via cross-equatorial energy transport.^[93] In Northern Hemisphere summer, models anticipate an equatorward contraction alongside intensified precipitation in the core ITCZ position, exceeding 3 mm/day in some eastern tropical Pacific projections.^[94]^[95] A potential slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), simulated in some CMIP6 models under high-emissions pathways, introduces southward ITCZ shifts, particularly in the tropical Atlantic, by cooling Northern Hemisphere SSTs and altering Hadley cell extent.^[96]^[97] This effect scales with AMOC weakening magnitude, with reductions of around 10 Sv linked to enhanced Southern Hemisphere precipitation and Northern Hemisphere drying.^[97] Certain scenarios also feature an enhanced double-ITCZ structure, where symmetric northern and southern precipitation bands intensify, though model ensembles vary in the degree of this asymmetry.^[29] Ensemble means from CMIP6 under SSP3-7.0 project poleward ITCZ migrations on the order of 0.5° to 1° latitude by 2100 in Northern Hemisphere-focused analyses, contingent on assumed SST patterns and ocean heat uptake.^[92] These outputs assume continued anthropogenic forcing with hemispheric warming differentials, but rely on parameterizations of convection and cloud feedbacks that introduce uncertainties in energy flux representations.^[40] Projections emphasize the ITCZ's sensitivity to extratropical influences, underscoring the need for improved simulation of meridional energy transport in driving long-term positioning.^[98]

Discrepancies and Scientific Debates

Climate models frequently exhibit a double-ITCZ bias, characterized by spurious precipitation maxima in the Southern Hemisphere tropics, which persists across CMIP3, CMIP5, and CMIP6 ensembles despite model improvements.^[99] This bias, often exceeding 2-3 mm/day in mean precipitation errors south of the equator, overestimates Southern Hemisphere convective features and amplifies projected ITCZ responses to warming, including exaggerated southward shifts or enhanced dual convergence zones under future scenarios.^[100]^[29] Such systematic errors stem from deficiencies in simulating ocean-atmosphere coupling and cloud processes, leading to inflated estimates of tropical precipitation sensitivity to radiative forcings.^[101] Observed ITCZ trends diverge from many model projections, with satellite and reanalysis data indicating a narrowing and strengthening of the precipitation band over recent decades, contrary to predictions of weakening or poleward expansion in some greenhouse-gas-forced simulations.^[102]^[103] For instance, global ITCZ intensity has increased from cooler to warmer historical periods, with latitudinal shifts confined within 3° and no consistent equatorward migration as forecasted in uniform warming scenarios.^[89] These discrepancies highlight limitations in models' representation of tropical sea surface temperature patterns, which drive observed versus projected ITCZ dynamics.^[104] Attribution debates center on the relative roles of volcanic versus anthropogenic forcings, with aerosols from both sources implicated in twentieth-century ITCZ migrations, though models struggle to disentangle their effects due to uncertainties in radiative forcing estimates.^[105] Volcanic eruptions, such as those in the Pinatubo event of 1991, have induced rapid, transient southward shifts via hemispheric cooling, overshadowing gradual anthropogenic signals in short-term records.^[106] Critics argue that overreliance on anthropogenic greenhouse gas dominance ignores natural aerosol variability, as paleoclimate proxies reveal ITCZ position excursions of several degrees over millennia—far exceeding modern changes—driven by solar irradiance, orbital cycles, and hemispheric temperature contrasts without elevated CO2 levels.^[8] Paleoclimate evidence from sediment records, such as titanium proxies in the Cariaco Basin indicating upwelling tied to ITCZ latitude, underscores dominant natural variability, with millennial-scale shifts linked to interhemispheric energy imbalances rather than radiative forcing alone.^[106] This supports skepticism toward projections exaggerating CO2-driven ITCZ alterations, as internal variability and unmodeled forcings like volcanic episodes account for a larger fraction of historical fluctuations than consensus model attributions suggest.^[8]^[105]

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[12]
[PDF] Convection in GATE
The data obtained show that the deep convection in the. ITCZ was concentrated in two types of 'cloud clusters,' rapidly moving squall clusters, and slowly mov-.
[13]
Dynamics of the Atlantic Marine Intertropical Convergence Zone
Aug 16, 2022 · Upward motions in the Atlantic Marine ITCZ are generally explained as resulting from latent heat release associated with deep convection in the troposphere.
[14]
[PDF] Goddard Latent Heating Retrieval Algorithm for TRMM and GPM W.
Latent heat release via precipitation formation is a primary driver of large- and small-scale atmospheric circulations, particularly in the Tropics where ...Missing: amplification | Show results with:amplification
[15]
Atmosphere - Convection, Circulation, Deflection | Britannica
Sep 19, 2025 · The ITCZ corresponds to the equatorial trough and is the mechanism that helps generate the deep cumulonimbus clouds through convection.
[16]
The Edge Intensification of Eastern Pacific ITCZ Convection in
The analysis is focused on the eastern Pacific ITCZ, defined as the areas where column water vapor exceeds 50 mm over a specified width (typically 400–600 km) ...
[17]
Factors controlling the position of the Intertropical Convergence ...
Dec 11, 2012 · The position of the ITCZ is found to depend on a feedback loop process wherein convective heating drives pressure gradients and winds.2.1. Convective... · 3.1. The Itcz Position As... · 4. Convective Scheme...Missing: ascent cumulonimbus
[18]
The Sticky Intertropical Convergence Zone - Oceans at MIT
Jul 25, 2017 · Intense solar radiation and calm, warm ocean waters produce an area of high humidity, ascending air and rainfall, which is fed by converging ...
[19]
How Does Sea Surface Temperature Drive the Intertropical ...
Jul 22, 2022 · The ITCZ is located north of the equator in most tropical oceans, except in the Indian Ocean where it sits south of the equator year-around. In ...
[20]
Climatology of the ITCZ derived from ERA Interim reanalyses - Žagar
Aug 2, 2011 · This study presents a new climatology of the ITCZ based on winds from ERA Interim reanalyses for the period 1990–2009.
[21]
Understanding convergence zones and the Intertropical ... - Met Office
Jul 24, 2025 · Because land heats up more quickly than water, the ITCZ tends to migrate further north and south over land than over ocean. In July and ...
[22]
Lightning and the African ITCZ - ScienceDirect.com
In contrast to the oceans, the ITCZ over land is often broad and irregular (Waliser and Gautier, 1993). The continental ITCZ is especially apparent over Africa ...
[23]
Different precipitation response over land and ocean to orbital and ...
Jul 17, 2020 · We find that greenhouse gas forcing drives similar precipitation response over land and ocean, whereas orbital forcing produces a different response over land ...
[24]
[PDF] South Pacific Convergence Zone dynamics, variability and impacts ...
Variability of the SPCZ is linked to changes in regional rainfall, tropical cyclone activity and sea level, which affect the numerous and diverse island ...
[25]
The South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ): A Review in
The circulation features associated with the South Pacific convergence zone (SPCZ) and its accompanying cloud band are reviewed and discussed.Missing: semi- permanent
[26]
Zonally Varying ITCZs in a Matsuno‐Gill‐Type Model With an ...
May 10, 2018 · Dynamical studies of the south Pacific convergence zone (SPCZ) have shown that it owes its diagonal orientation to the existence of a Pacific ...Missing: semi- permanent
[27]
[PDF] Southwest Pacific Ocean Circulation and Climate Experiment (SPICE)
The SPCZ is a region of high convective activity associated with strong precipitation, wind convergence, and diabatic heating (Zhang, 2001). The trade winds in ...
[28]
The SPCZ and the Southeast Pacific Dry Zone in - AMS Journals
The nature of the South Pacific convergence zone (SPCZ) is addressed by focusing on the dry (and cool) zone bounded by it and the coast of South America ...Missing: dual | Show results with:dual
[29]
Climate Models Exaggerate the Enhanced Double‐ITCZ in the ...
May 29, 2025 · Our bias-reduced simulations show a much smaller reduction in the precipitation asymmetry index and only half the increase in rainfall in the ...1 Introduction · 2 Methods · 3 Results
[30]
[PDF] On the location and orientation of the South Pacific Convergence Zone
The eastern boundary of the SPCZ (defined arbitrarily by the 240 W m-2 OLR contour between 20°S and 35°S) transects the meridional SST gradient and is located ...Missing: dual | Show results with:dual
[31]
[PDF] Chapter 2 - The University of the South Pacific
Vatukia village in Rewa, Fiji, is highly vulnerable to flooding due to the increasing frequency and rainfall intensity caused by climate change (Photo: POCCA ...
[32]
(PDF) Oceanographic variability in the South Pacific Convergence ...
The warming and freshening of the surface ocean in our study area suggests that the SPCZ has been shifting (expanding) southeast, possibly related to the ...
[33]
[PDF] Why the ITCZ Is Mostly North of the Equator
(Larger amounts of cloud- iness over the southern oceans, associated with the greater expanse of water there, contribute to lower sea surface temperatures but, ...
[34]
What Keeps the ITCZ North of the Equator?
The configuration of oceanic ITCZ becomes symmetric about the equator if this latitudinal SST asymmetry is removed in an atmospheric GCM (Philander et al. 1996) ...
[35]
The ocean's role in setting the mean position of the Inter-Tropical ...
May 1, 2013 · A primary asymmetric feature of the global climate is the displacement of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) northward of the equator.
[36]
Rapid Dynamical Evolution of ITCZ Events over the East Pacific
Nov 23, 2022 · 2), making the total precipitation in the east Pacific for dITCZ events more sym- metric about the equator (not shown). In Fig. 8, we plot ERA5 ...
[37]
[PDF] The Eastern Pacific ITCZ during the Boreal Spring
Sep 5, 2020 · Consistent with previous studies, an equatorial cold tongue is essential to the existence of the double ITCZs. However, too strong a cold tongue ...
[38]
Evolutionary Structure of the Eastern Pacific Double ITCZ Based on ...
The equatorial sea surface cold tongue appears to be the determining factor regulating the formation of a double ITCZ in the eastern Pacific. Areas of deep ...
[39]
Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) | SKYbrary Aviation Safety
The Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, or ITCZ, is a belt of low pressure which circles the Earth generally near the equator where the trade winds of the Northern ...<|separator|>
[40]
Response of the Intertropical Convergence Zone to Climate Change
Aug 9, 2018 · The ITCZ moves north and south across the equator following the seasonal cycle of solar insolation, and is intimately connected to seasonal ...
[41]
Modulation of tropical stratospheric gravity wave activity and ... - ACP
Oct 8, 2025 · Both ITCZ and gravity wave potential energy maxima exhibit coherent seasonal migration (∼10 and ∼5° latitudinal shifts, respectively), with ...
[42]
Obliquity Induced Latitudinal Migration of the Intertropical ...
Nov 10, 2022 · We found that the latitudinal migration of the ITCZ during the past ∼410 kyr was strongly influenced by orbital obliquity, the tilt of the Earth's rotational ...
[43]
The Rise of El Niño and La Niña | NOAA Climate.gov
Oct 23, 2020 · Generally, the precipitation patterns during El Nino reflect a southward shift of the ITCZ in the western Pacific, whereas La Nina causes a ...
[44]
Observed Interannual Relationship between ITCZ Position and ...
El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) can affect both ITCZ and TCG since they significantly influence the large-scale atmospheric and oceanic conditions (Ramsay ...
[45]
Variations in Precipitating Convective Feature Populations with ITCZ ...
The expansion of more organized systems with large stratiform rain regions across the ITCZ during El Niño provide the large positive latent heating anomalies in ...
[46]
The Relationship between the ITCZ and MJO Initiation over the ...
The results demonstrate that an ITCZ is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for convective initiation of the MJO.Abstract · Introduction · Methods · Results
[47]
Tropical cyclone activity affected by volcanically induced ITCZ shifts
Apr 1, 2019 · Our study demonstrates that volcanic eruptions by shifting the Intertropical convergence zone can impact tropical cyclone activity up to 4 years following the ...
[48]
ITCZ shift and extratropical teleconnections drive ENSO response to ...
Jun 3, 2020 · We show that the primary drivers of the ENSO response are the shifts of the ITCZ together with extratropical circulation changes, which affect the tropics.Itcz Shift And Extratropical... · Results · Itcz Shift And Odt...
[49]
Energetic Constraints on the Time-Dependent Response of the ITCZ ...
Volcanic eruptions cause ITCZ shifts, with net atmospheric energy transport being a poor predictor for the first year. ITCZ shifts are larger than natural ...
[50]
The ITCZ and the Seasonal Cycle over Equatorial Africa in
Feb 1, 2018 · Abstract. The common explanation for the progression of the rainy season over Africa is the seasonal excursion of the ITCZ.
[51]
Monsoons, ITCZs, and the Concept of the Global Monsoon - 2020
Oct 30, 2020 · Over South Asia and South Africa, the strongest precipitation (dark blue) is located in monsoon convergence zones, poleward of 10°. Over the ...Introduction · Idealized Modeling of Tropical... · Interpreting Observations and...
[52]
African Monsoon | www.clivar.org
The East African Monsoon is associated with the ITCZ moving south of the equator. The so-called long rains prevail during spring (MAM) and the short rains ...
[53]
Sahel Drought: Understanding the Past and Projecting into the Future
In the 1970's and 1980's, the region experienced a profound drought, with over a 30% decrease in rainfall over most of the Sahel as compared to the 1950's ...Missing: ITCZ migration
[54]
Reversing Sahelian Droughts - Ricke - 2021 - AGU Journals - Wiley
Jul 3, 2021 · ... migratory birds. A multi-decadal drought in the 1970 and 1980s resulted in famine, displacement and declines in regional biodiversity ...
[55]
Rainfall trends in the African Sahel: Characteristics, processes, and ...
Sea surface temperature anomalies were the dominant forcing of the drought of the 1970s and 1980s. ... drought when the ITCZ stays closer to the equator.
[56]
Sahel rainfall strength and onset improvements due to more realistic ...
Feb 7, 2018 · The Sahel has experienced severe and widespread droughts during the 1970s ... migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). This ...<|separator|>
[57]
Connecting Tropical Cyclones, Precursor Disturbances, and the ...
Jul 15, 2025 · In this study, we examine the link between tropical cyclones and the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), which is a region of intense ...
[58]
[PDF] ITCZ Position Effect on the Tropical Cyclone Genesis in North Atlantic
Jul 14, 2022 · When the ITCZ is further northward, the warmer SST, decreased vertical wind shear, increased relative humidity and cyclonic relative vorti- city ...
[59]
Large volcanic eruptions reduce landfalling tropical cyclone activity
Jun 25, 2021 · We provide the first long-term evidence of reduced TC activity for two years following large volcanic eruptions.
[60]
[PDF] EASA Safety Information Bulletin
Jul 29, 2015 · Convergence Zone, or ITCZ (including various hazards such as thunderstorms, turbulence, ice crystals, icing, hail, windshear, lightning, etc ...
[61]
Cumulonimbus (Cb) | SKYbrary Aviation Safety
Vertical movement within a Cb can be as much as 50kt. The interaction between strong updrafts and strong downdrafts causes wind shear and severe turbulence ...
[62]
Agriculture in West Africa in the Twenty-First Century - PubMed Central
This review paper provides a comprehensive overview of climate change impacts on agriculture in West Africa based on the recent scientific literature.
[63]
Sahel rainfall recovery linked to warming Mediterranean, study says
Jun 27, 2016 · Between the 1960s and 80s, the ITCZ gradually shifted southwards, depriving the Sahel of its annual deluge and causing widespread drought and ...Missing: migration | Show results with:migration
[64]
Severe droughts in North Africa: A review of drivers, impacts and ...
9.3. Socio-economic impacts. Drought in NAF has considerable negative impacts on the economy and people in terms of crop production losses, reduction in GDP, ...
[65]
Towards a comprehensive view on evolutionary refugia in West ...
Mar 17, 2025 · Tropical rainforests only cover around 10% of the Earth´s surface, but are global epicentres of biodiversity and home to over two-thirds of all ...pollen Cores · phylogeography · modelling Refugia...
[66]
Influence of the intertropical convergence zone on early cretaceous ...
Jul 23, 2022 · ... ITCZ, shows a slight increase in lowland rainforest. The changes in the biomes are attributable to threshold effects caused by gradual ...
[67]
Climate change and marine ecosystems - PNAS
Nov 6, 2012 · Using 15 y of repeated measurements, they show how the upwelling-favorable trade winds have diminished by the northward migration of the ITCZ, ...
[68]
Advancing water security in Africa with new high-resolution ... - Nature
Nov 5, 2024 · ... ITCZ across the continent. The equatorial rivers, especially the Congo River, exhibit less variability in discharge throughout the year ...
[69]
New research sinks an old theory for the doldrums, a low-wind ...
Sep 9, 2024 · Deciphering the doldrums. The doldrums, also known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone, was named by early 19th century sailors marooned at ...
[70]
A Digital Map of Ocean Traffic, Mined from Centuries-old Ship's Logs
Dec 24, 2013 · Take a vast collection of 18th- and 19th-century ship's logs (1), digitise their contents and geolocate each entry. Stick those millions of ...
[71]
Variability of the Intertropical Front (ITF) and Rainfall over the West ...
For at least 65 years, the Intertropical Front (ITF) has been recognized as a fundamental feature of the atmospheric circulation over West Africa (Hamilton and ...Missing: terminology shift
[72]
journal of meteorology
Up to the time of World War II, meteorological papers dealing with equatorial wind patterns customarily have begun with the premise that the trade winds of both ...
[73]
[PDF] Interannual Variations in Convective Activity over the GATE Area
The ob- servational basis for the study is a collection of five years of daily brightness data from several meteorological satellites for the years 1967 through ...
[74]
Westward Propagating Cloud Patterns in the Tropical Pacific as ...
A new method of using satellite photographs in the study of large-scale cloud motions in the tropics is presented.Missing: advancements | Show results with:advancements
[75]
Observed variability of intertropical convergence zone over 1998-2018
Jun 9, 2025 · Using observed precipitation from GPCP and TRMM 3B43, as well as the ERA5 reanalysis data, we examine the ITCZ variations over the global and ...
[76]
20th Century Reanalysis - Physical Sciences Laboratory - NOAA
The most recent version of this reanalysis, V3, provides 8-times daily estimates of global tropospheric variability across 75 km grids, spanning 1836 to 2015 ( ...
[77]
Contrasting Trends in Convective and Large‐Scale Precipitation in ...
Jun 29, 2023 · The meridional width of the ITCZ is set to the latitude where the zonal (170°E–260°E) mean precipitation reaches to 40% of the maximum zonal ...
[78]
A Further Note on Large-Scale Motions in the Tropics in
A Further Note on Large-Scale Motions in the Tropics. Jule G. Charney. Jule G. Charney Dept. of Meteorology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
[79]
Energetic Constraints on the Position of the Intertropical ...
The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) can shift meridionally on seasonal and longer time scales. Previous studies have shown that the latitude of the ITCZ ...
[80]
The Equatorial Energy Balance, ITCZ Position, and ... - AMS Journals
How the constraints from the energy balance and angular momentum balance are to be coupled in a closed theory is a largely unresolved question. In addition ...Introduction · ITCZ, energy flux equator, and... · Energetic constraints on ITCZ...
[81]
Community structure of tropics emerging from spatio-temporal ...
Oct 18, 2024 · The SPCZ is formed because of the convergence of southeast trade winds over the region of high sea surface temperature (SST) associated with ...
[82]
Changes in ocean salinity lead to ITCZ migration
The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is a well-defined zonally-oriented band of high precipitation, which strongly influences rainfall patterns in the ...
[83]
Mid to late 20th century freshening of the western tropical South ...
Jul 1, 2022 · Our results suggest that the weakened Atlantic SST gradient resulted in a southward shift of the thermal equator that was accompanied by a ...
[84]
Linking ITCZ Migrations to the AMOC and North Atlantic/Pacific SST ...
In observations over the twentieth century, the ITCZ position appears to be connected to an interhemispheric heating imbalance driven by multidecadal ...
[85]
Observed variability of intertropical convergence zone over 1998 ...
The ITCZ positions over the globe and Africa are related to both ENSO and NAO, while ITCZ position over eastern Pacific is significantly affected by ENSO and ...
[86]
The strength, position, and width changes of the intertropical ... - PNAS
Here, we use oxygen isotope records in speleothems from the Maritime Continent to reconstruct regional ITCZ changes over the past 30,000 y. We find that the ...
[87]
Response of the global ITCZ to ENSO and how the ITCZ determined ...
The study concludes that the position established by the maximum precipitation aligns with the surface tropical wind convergence over the global oceanic areas.3. Results And Discussion · 3.1. 3. La Niña · 3.2. Global Itcz Climatology...Missing: stability | Show results with:stability<|separator|>
[88]
Mid-Holocene Intertropical Convergence Zone migration - CP
Jul 14, 2025 · This study investigates the multiple changes of the Hadley cell (HC) in response to the northward migration of the Intertropical Convergence ...
[89]
The strength, position, and width changes of the intertropical ...
Nov 6, 2023 · We find that the ITCZ strength overall increased from the globally cold to warm periods, and its mean position has shifted latitudinally within 3°, consistent ...
[90]
Narrowing of the ITCZ in a warming climate: Physical mechanisms
Oct 22, 2016 · Here we show that the narrowing of the ITCZ in simulations of future climate is related to changes in the moist static energy (MSE) budget.
[91]
[PDF] Narrowing of the ITCZ in a warming climate: Physical mechanisms
The majority of models show a northward shift of the southern edge of the ITCZ with global warming (multimodel-mean shift of +0.8∘; Figure S1); there is no ...
[92]
Zonally contrasting shifts of the tropical rainbelt in response to ...
Over the western Pacific, the ITCZ shifts southward during May-Oct and northward during Nov-Apr (as shown in Figure 1), which translates into a decreased ...Missing: insolation | Show results with:insolation
[93]
[PDF] Zonally contrasting shifts of the tropical rain belt in response to ...
Despite the high intermodel uncertainty regarding the zonal-mean ITCZ shift, the CMIP6 models show greater agree- ment for different longitudinal sectors ...
[94]
Equatorward shift of the boreal summer intertropical convergence ...
Feb 29, 2024 · From a global perspective, ITCZ will shift poleward because of a potentially warming Northern Hemisphere due to anthropogenic activities-induced ...
[95]
Eastern Tropical Pacific atmospheric and oceanic projected ...
Precipitation is projected to increase > 3 mm day−1 in the mean position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, and decrease toward the north. A similar ...
[96]
Multimodel Evidence of Future Tropical Atlantic Precipitation ...
Our research uncovers a prominent role played by the decline of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) for the intermodel spread.
[97]
Impacts and State‐Dependence of AMOC Weakening in a Warming ...
May 13, 2024 · We showed that an AMOC weakening of ∼10 Sv leads a reduction in NH temperature warming, widespread NH drying and a southward shift of the ITCZ, ...
[98]
CMIP6 Intermodel Spread in Interhemispheric Asymmetry of Tropical ...
Deep convection in the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) drives the atmospheric circulation and helps shape regional climate around the world. Anthropogenic ...Cmip6 Intermodel Spread In... · A. Cmip6 · A. Extratropical Origins
[99]
The Double‐ITCZ Bias in CMIP3, CMIP5, and CMIP6 Models Based ...
Mar 28, 2020 · We find that the double-ITCZ bias with a big inter-model spread persists in all CMIP models and still remains a serious problem in the latest CMIP6 models.
[100]
Understanding the alleviation of “Double-ITCZ” bias in CMIP6 ...
May 6, 2024 · Since the bias of “double ITCZ” may influence the creditability of climate models in the projection of future climate change, resolving the “ ...
[101]
Linking Large-Scale Double-ITCZ Bias to Local-Scale Drizzling Bias ...
The double-ITCZ bias in coupled models is decomposed into a hemispherically symmetric component that exists already in atmospheric models without the SST bias ...
[102]
Response of the Intertropical Convergence Zone to Climate Change
Recent findings: Satellite observations and reanalysis data show a narrowing and strengthening of precipitation in the ITCZ over recent decades in both the ...
[103]
Contrasting Recent and Future ITCZ Changes From Distinct Tropical ...
Nov 10, 2020 · This study synthesizes the observed trends and projected changes in the Intertropical Convergence Zones (ITCZs).
[104]
Contrasting recent and future changes in the Intertropical ...
Jan 28, 2021 · Under global warming, the ITCZ is projected to shift towards the equator, leading to squeeze in the annual-mean tropical ascent and far-reaching ...
[105]
Interhemispheric Aerosol Radiative Forcing and Tropical ...
The authors find that anthropogenic and volcanic aerosols are the dominant drivers of simulated twentieth-century tropical precipitation shifts.
[106]
The Role of Internal Variability in ITCZ Changes Over the Last ...
Feb 10, 2022 · We have found that changes in the positioning of the ITCZ over the Atlantic Ocean are mainly linked to variations in solar luminosity and volcanic events.