In the Pacific region, climate change plays out differently than expected

In the tropical Pacific, the effect of climate change has so far been different than anticipated: The Walker circulation has strengthened, while a weakening was expected, and the East Pacific is conspicuously cool despite global warming. Through climate modeling and conceptual studies, we have uncovered parallel influences with partly opposing effects, driven by remote regions, and thus provided an explanation for these unexpected observations. This also revealed that the original expectations are nevertheless correct in the long term.