“…However, it is becoming clear that the climate model simulations are systematically biased to generate a weakening of the zonal contrast in SST and SLP over the past decades (Wills et al., 2022), leading to suspicion that the models do not adequately represent a forced response to GHGs or aerosols due perhaps to errors in the coupled mean state in the Pacific (Seager et al., 2019, 2022). There are several mechanisms to explain the observed strengthening, for example, aerosol forcing (Smith et al., 2016; Takahashi & Watanabe, 2016), remote effect of the Southern Ocean cooling (Dong et al., 2022; England et al., 2020; Kang et al., 2023; Kim et al., 2022), and coupling with tropical Atlantic and Indian Oceans (Li et al., 2016; McGregor et al., 2014; O’Reilly et al., 2023), but they are based on the potentially biased coupled model simulations, hindering a robust attribution of the past PWC intensification.…”