Douglas G MacMynowski 2009 Environ. Res. Lett. 4 045111 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/4/4/045111
Douglas G MacMynowski
Show affiliationsPart of Focus on Climate Engineering: Intentional Intervention in the Climate System
The question of whether it is possible to intentionally modify the El Niño/Southern oscillation (ENSO) cycle is explored as a case study in the dynamics of climate intervention beyond simple temperature adjustment. A plausible control strategy is described, including an estimate of the energy it would require to implement. The intent here is not to suggest that we should do so, but rather that the scale of the required intervention is such that we could intentionally influence ENSO. Simulations use the Cane–Zebiak intermediate complexity model, and demonstrate that depending on the parameter regime, a feedback strategy that dynamically deflects less than 1% of the sunlight over the Niño-3 region of the eastern tropical Pacific could be used to reduce the probability of extreme ENSO events (T>2 °C) to near zero, or conversely to enhance the cycle.
92.10.am El Nino Southern Oscillation
92.60.Cc Ocean/atmosphere interactions, air/sea constituent fluxes
Issue 4 (October-December 2009)
Received 21 May 2009, accepted for publication 24 November 2009
Published 18 December 2009
Douglas G MacMynowski 2009 Environ. Res. Lett. 4 045111
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