Amazon drought amplifies SST warming in the North Tropical Atlantic

North Tropical Atlantic (NTA) has been warming rapidly in the winter, with a warming rate that exceeds the global average sea surface temperature (SST). However, the reasons for this enhanced warming remain unclear. Here we suggest that Amazon drought contributes to the rapid NTA warming. Observational analyses reveal that Amazon Soil Moisture (ASM) in autumn shows a significant inverse relationship with NTA SST in winter. Decreased ASM in autumn, persists via Land-Atmosphere (L-A) feedback, leads to weakened Hadley circulation over the Tropical Atlantic in winter. The Wind-Evaporation-SST (WES) feedback mechanism further causes the warming of NTA SST. Simulations from CMIP6 fully coupled models and SM-forced mixed layer ocean model suggest that the Amazon drought weakens the Hadley circulation over the Tropical Atlantic and warms the NTA SST. An ASM-based empirical model reproduces the observed NTA SST variations (r = 0.72, p < 0.05), further highlighting a role for Amazon drought in amplifying ocean warming.