Pacific interdecadal variability in this century's sea surface temperatures

Analysis of this century's sea surface temperatures over the Pacific Ocean reveals an interdecadal oscillation with a period of 15-20 years. Our resul ts show that the well-known 1976-77 climate regime shift is not unique, but represents one of several phase transitions associated with this interdeca dal oscillation, also found around 1924-25, 1941-42, and 1957-58. The oscil lation's striking north-south symmetry the equator implies strong interacti ons between tropics ana extratropics. A mode with a period of approximately 70 years and an apparently different spatial pattern is also identified te ntatively but has to be evaluated further using longer time series.