Pedro DiNezio
Pedro DiNezio is a climate scientist and associate professor of atmospheric and ocean sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Prof. DiNezio studies the influence of the tropical oceans on our planet’s weather and climate using theory, models, and observations. He has pioneered the use of paleoclimate data to validate model predictions using physical mechanisms to connect past and future changes. This approach has allowed Prof. DiNezio and collaborators improve predictions of drought and climate extremes worldwide. Prof. Di Nezio has published extensively on subjects related to past and future climate change, the prediction of El Niño and La Niña, contributing to the IPCC, and advising government agencies and the private sector. An environmental activist, Prof. DiNezio works to protect beaches and coastal dunes in Argentina from erosion caused by sea level rise and unsustainable urban development.
Glacial lessons on future monsoon change
Paleoclimate records reveal major reorganizations of global monsoon systems during intervals of abrupt climate change during the last glacial period. The magnitude of these hydroclimate changes, together with the abundance of records, make these intervals some of the best targets for model evaluation. Understanding their drivers is important to improve future projections – since both past and future changes involve reductions in the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). We explored these questions combining paleoclimate records and climate model simulations of Heinrich Stadial 1. We identify a global monsoon response initiated by cooling over the tropical North Atlantic and communicated to the Indian and Pacific oceans across tropical landmasses where air-sea interactions transmit it to the Maritime Continent and Northern Australia. A similar global response is active in future climate projections; but not in all models, explaining divergent hydroclimate responses. Models consistent with the paleodata predict stronger and robust monsoon responses than the consensus of models used by the IPCC, revealing a higher risk of future drought and extreme rain worldwide.
