We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
North Atlantic Multidecadal Climate Variability: An Investigation of Dominant Time Scales and Processes.
- Authors
Frankcombe, Leela M.; von der Heydt, Anna; Dijkstra, Henk A.
- Abstract
The issue of multidecadal variability in the North Atlantic has been an important topic of late. It is clear that there are multidecadal variations in several climate variables in the North Atlantic, such as sea surface temperature and sea level height. The details of this variability, in particular the dominant patterns and time scales, are confusing from both an observational as well as a theoretical point of view. After analyzing results from observational datasets and a 500-yr simulation of an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) climate model, two dominant time scales (20–30 and 50–70 yr) of multidecadal variability in the North Atlantic are proposed. The 20–30-yr variability is characterized by the westward propagation of subsurface temperature anomalies. The hypothesis is that the 20–30-yr variability is caused by internal variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) while the 50–70-yr variability is related to atmospheric forcing over the Atlantic Ocean and exchange processes between the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.
- Subjects
ATLANTIC Ocean; ARCTIC Ocean; NORTH Atlantic Region; CLIMATE change; ABSOLUTE sea level change; ATMOSPHERIC temperature; INTERGOVERNMENTAL Panel on Climate Change; GENERAL circulation model; ATMOSPHERIC pressure; GREENHOUSE gases
- Publication
Journal of Climate, 2010, Vol 23, Issue 13, p3626
- ISSN
0894-8755
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1175/2010JCLI3471.1