Abstract Gu et al. (2024, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL107401) recently provided the first quantitative assessment of oceanic and atmospheric forcing on decadal sea surface temperature (SST) variability globally in observations. However, the validity of their simplified statistical method in the complex climate system remains uncertain. Here, we test the fidelity of their results dynamically using wind‐stress overriding experiments in a fully coupled climate model. Our results confirm the dominant role of wind‐driven oceanic forcing in mid‐latitudes, as indicated by the sign reversal of decadal SST–surface heat flux correlation after removing wind‐driven oceanic forcing. The strong oceanic forcing is further validated quantitatively by the agreement of the forcing ratio (ocean vs. atmosphere) between the dynamical and statistical estimates. Our dynamical results support the reliability of the statistical approach in Gu et al. (2024, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL107401) and their finding that mid‐latitude decadal SST variability is primarily driven by wind‐driven oceanic forcing, particularly wind‐driven geostrophic circulation.
Observations from the Little Bunker
Last updated: December 29, 2025 02:12 PM
Atmospheric CO₂
427.9 ppm
+18.1
ppm/year
Atmospheric CH₄
1930.95 ppb
+-3.5
ppb/year
Global Temperature
+1.48 °C
Peak: +1.73°C
World Population
8.1 billion
+67
million/year