Unveiling Amplified Isolation in Climate Networks due to Global Warming

Our study utilizes global reanalysis of near-surface daily air temperature data, spanning from 1949 to 2019, to construct climate networks. By employing community detection for each year, we reveal the evolving community structure of the climate network within the context of global warming. Our findings indicate significant changes in measures such as the network modularity, the number of communities, and the average community size over the past 30 years. Notably, the community structure of the climate network undergoes a discernible transition around 1982. We attribute this transition to the substantial increase in isolated nodes after 1982, primarily concentrated in equatorial ocean regions. Additionally, we demonstrate that nodes experiencing amplified isolation tend to diminish connectivity with other nodes globally, particularly those within the same oceanic basin, while showing a significant strengthening of connections with the Eurasian and North African continents. We propose that the mechanism behind the amplified isolation in the climate network can be understood through weakened ocean current interactions under global warming.