North Atlantic centers of action and seasonal to subseasonal temperature variability in Europe and eastern North America

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Osman ◽  
Benjamin Zaitchik ◽  
Hamada Badr ◽  
Sultan Hameed
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Temperature Variability ◽  
Eastern North America

North Hemispheric winter air temperature variability and its linkage to North Pacific and North Atlantic SST modes?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Binhe Luo ◽  
Dehai Luo ◽  
Aiguo Dai ◽  
Lixin Wu
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Wave Train ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
The North Pacific

<p>Winter surface air temperature (SAT) over North America exhibits pronounced variability on sub-seasonal-to-interdecadal timescales, but its causes are not fully understood. Here observational and reanalysis data from 1950-2017 are analyzed to investigate these causes. Detrended daily SAT data reveals a known warm-west/cold-east (WWCE) dipole over midlatitude North America and a cold-north/warm-south (CNWS) dipole over eastern North America. It is found that while the North Pacific blocking (PB) is important for the WWCE and CNWS dipoles, they also depend on the phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). When a negative-phase NAO (NAO-) concurs with PB, the WWCE dipole is enhanced (compared with the PB alone case) and it also leads to a warm north/cold south dipole anomaly in eastern North America; but when PB occurs with a positive-phase NAO (NAO<sup>+</sup>), the WWCE dipole weakens and the CNWS dipole is enhanced. In particular, the WWCE dipole is favored by a combination of eastward-displaced PB and NAO<sup>-</sup> that form a negative Arctic Oscillation. Furthermore, a WWCE dipole can form over midlatitude North America when PB occurs together with southward-displaced NAO<sup>+</sup>.The PB events concurring with NAO<sup>-</sup> (NAO<sup>+</sup>) and SAT WWCE (CNWS) dipole are favored by the El Nio-like (La Nia-like) SST mode, though related to the North Atlantic warm-cold-warm (cold-warm-cold) SST tripole pattern. It is also found that the North Pacific mode tends to enhance the WWCE SAT dipole through increasing PB-NAO<sup>-</sup> events and producing the WWCE SAT dipole component related to the PB-NAO<sup>+</sup> events because the PB and NAO<sup>+</sup> form a more zonal wave train in this case.</p>

Air temperature impacts over Eastern North America and Europe associated with low-frequency North Atlantic SST variability

2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Arguez ◽  
James J. O'Brien ◽  
Shawn R. Smith
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Sst Variability ◽  
Temperature Impacts

scholarly journals Impacts of the North Atlantic Oscillation on Winter Precipitations and Storm Track Variability in Southeast Canada and Northeast US

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Chartrand ◽  
Francesco Salvatore Rocco Pausata
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North America ◽  
North Atlantic Oscillation ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Storm Track ◽  
The United States ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
The North Atlantic Oscillation

Abstract. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) affects atmospheric variability from eastern North America to Europe. Although the link between the NAO and winter precipitations in the eastern North America have been the focus of previous work, only few studies have hitherto provided clear physical explanations on these relationships. In this study we revisit and extend the analysis of the effect of the NAO on winter precipitations over a large domain covering southeast Canada and the northeastern United States. Furthermore, here we use the recent ERA5 reanalysis dataset (1979–2018), which currently has the highest available horizontal resolution for a global reanalysis (0.25°), to track extratropical cyclones to delve into the physical processes behind the relationship between NAO and precipitation, snowfall, snowfall-to-precipitation ratio (S/P), and snow cover depth anomalies in the region. In particular, our results show that positive NAO phases are associated with less snowfall over a wide region covering Nova Scotia, New England and the Mid-Atlantic of the United States relative to negative NAO phases. Henceforth, a significant negative correlation is also seen between S/P and the NAO over this region. This is due to a decrease (increase) in cyclogenesis of coastal storms near the United States east coast during positive (negative) NAO phases, as well as a northward (southward) displacement of the mean storm track over North America.

scholarly journals SynthETC: A Statistical Model for Severe Winter Storm Hazard on Eastern North America

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (14) ◽  
pp. 5329-5343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Hall ◽  
James F. Booth
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Occurrence Rate ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Extratropical Cyclones ◽  
Winter Storm ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

The authors develop, evaluate, and apply SynthETC, a statistical–stochastic model of winter extratropical cyclones (ETCs) over eastern North America. SynthETC simulates the life cycle of ETCs from formation to termination, and it can be used to estimate the probability of extreme ETC events beyond the historical record. Two modes of climate variability are used as independent covariates: El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Niño-3.4 index and the monthly North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). SynthETC is used to estimate the annual occurrence rate over sites in eastern North America of intense ETC passage in different ENSO and NAO states. Positive NAO is associated with increased rates over the North Atlantic, while negative NAO is associated with decreased rates over the North Atlantic and increased rates over northern Quebec. Positive ENSO is associated with decreased rates over the North Atlantic, Ontario, and the Canadian maritime, while negative ENSO is associated with increased rates over those regions, as well as the Great Lakes region.

scholarly journals Combined Influences on North American Winter Air Temperature Variability from North Pacific Blocking and the North Atlantic Oscillation: Subseasonal and Interannual Time Scales

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (16) ◽  
pp. 7101-7123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Binhe Luo ◽  
Dehai Luo ◽  
Aiguo Dai ◽  
I. Simmonds ◽  
Lixin Wu
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North American ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
The North Atlantic Oscillation ◽  
The North Pacific

AbstractWinter surface air temperature (SAT) over North America exhibits pronounced variability on subseasonal, interannual, decadal, and interdecadal time scales. Here, reanalysis data from 1950–2017 are analyzed to investigate the atmospheric and surface ocean conditions associated with its subseasonal to interannual variability. Detrended daily SAT data reveal a known warm west/cold east (WWCE) dipole over midlatitude North America and a cold north/warm south (CNWS) dipole over eastern North America. It is found that while the North Pacific blocking (PB) is important for the WWCE and CNWS dipoles, they also depend on the phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). When a negative-phase NAO (NAO−) coincides with PB, the WWCE dipole is enhanced (compared with the PB alone case) and it also leads to a warm north/cold south dipole anomaly in eastern North America; but when PB occurs with a positive-phase NAO (NAO+), the WWCE dipole weakens and the CNWS dipole is enhanced. The PB events concurrent with the NAO− (NAO+) and SAT WWCE (CNWS) dipole are favored by the Pacific El Niño–like (La Niña–like) sea surface temperature mode and the positive (negative) North Pacific mode. The PB-NAO+ has a larger component projecting onto the SAT WWCE dipole during the La Niña winter than during the El Niño winter because a more zonal wave train is formed. Strong North American SAT WWCE dipoles and enhanced projections of PB-NAO+ events onto the SAT WWCE dipole component are also readily seen for the positive North Pacific mode. The North Pacific mode seems to play a bigger role in the North American SAT variability than ENSO.

scholarly journals Long-term trends in aerosol and precipitation composition over the western North Atlantic Ocean at Bermuda

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
pp. 8119-8135 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. C. Keene ◽  
J. L. Moody ◽  
J. N. Galloway ◽  
J. M. Prospero ◽  
O. R. Cooper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Flow Regimes ◽  
Open Ocean ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Trade Wind ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Near Surface

Abstract. Since the 1980s, emissions of SO2 and NOx (NO + NO2) from anthropogenic sources in the United States (US), Canada, and Europe have decreased significantly suggesting that the export of oxidized S and N compounds from surrounding continents to the atmosphere overlying the North Atlantic Ocean (NAO) has also decreased. The chemical compositions of aerosols and precipitation sampled daily on Bermuda (32.27° N, 64.87° W) from 1989 to 1997 and from 2006 to 2009 were evaluated to quantify the magnitudes, significance, and implications of associated tends in atmospheric composition. The chemical data were stratified based on FLEXPART (FLEXible PARTicle dispersion model) retroplumes into four discrete transport regimes: westerly flow from eastern North America (NEUS/SEUS); easterly trade-wind flow from northern Africa and the subtropical NAO (Africa); long, open-ocean, anticyclonic flow around the Bermuda High (Oceanic); and transitional flow from the relatively clean open ocean to the polluted eastern North America (North). Based on all data, annual average concentrations of non-sea-salt (nss) SO42– associated with aerosols and annual volume-weighted-average (VWA) concentrations in precipitation decreased significantly (by 22% and 49%, respectively) whereas annual VWA concentrations of NH4+ in precipitation increased significantly (by 70%). Corresponding trends in aerosol and precipitation NO3– and of aerosol NH4+ were insignificant. Nss SO42– in precipitation under NEUS/SEUS and Oceanic flow decreased significantly (61% each) whereas corresponding trends in particulate nss SO42– under both flow regimes were insignificant. Trends in precipitation composition were driven in part by decreasing emissions of SO2 over upwind continents and associated decreases in anthropogenic contributions to nss SO42– concentrations. Under NEUS/SEUS and Oceanic flow, the ratio of anthropogenic to biogenic contributions to nss SO42– in the column scavenged by precipitation were relatively greater than those in near surface aerosol, which implies that, for these flow regimes, precipitation is a better indicator of overall anthropogenic impacts on the lower troposphere. Particulate nss SO42– under African flow also decreased significantly (34%) whereas the corresponding decrease in nss SO42– associated with precipitation was insignificant. We infer that these trends were driven in part by reductions in the emissions and transport of oxidized S compounds from Europe. The lack of significant trends in NO3– associated with aerosols and precipitation under NEUS/SEUS flow is notable in light of the large decrease (37%) in NOx emissions in the US and Canada over the period of record. Rapid chemical processing of oxidized N in marine air contributed to this lack of correspondence. Decreasing ratios of nss SO42– to NH4+ and the significant decreasing trend in precipitation acidity (37%) indicate that the total amount of acidity in the multiphase gas–aerosol system in the western NAO troposphere decreased over the period of record. Decreasing aerosol acidities would have shifted the phase partitioning of total NH3 (NH3 + particulate NH4+ towards the gas phase thereby decreasing the atmospheric lifetime of total NH3 against wet plus dry deposition. The trend of increasing NH4+ in precipitation at Bermuda over the period of record suggests that NH3 emissions from surrounding continents also increased. Decreasing particulate nss SO42– in near-surface air under NEUS/SEUS flow over the period of record implies that the corresponding shortwave scattering and absorption by nss S and associated aerosols constituents also decreased. These changes in radiative transfer suggest a corresponding lower limit for net warming over the period in the range of 0.1–0.3 W m–2.

FAUNAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA AND EUROPE AS SHOWN BY INSECTS

1988 ◽  
Vol 120 (S144) ◽  
pp. 39-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald R. Noonan
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North American ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Western North America ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
Fossil Data ◽  
Suitable Land

AbstractThe supercontinent of Pangaea, which once included most lands, fragmented during the Mesozoic. By the Late Cretaceous there were two northern land masses that were strikingly different from those of present day: Asiamerica consisting of present western North America and Asia; and Euramerica comprising Europe and eastern North America. Mild climates facilitated the spread of terrestrial organisms within each of these land masses, but epicontinental seas hindered movements between Europe and Asia and between eastern and western North America.The insects of Euramerica presumably once formed a fauna extending from eastern North America to Europe that differed from the fauna of Asiamerica. The opening of the North Atlantic separated insects in Europe from those in eastern North America. This produced vicarious patterns, with some insects of eastern North America now being more closely related phylogenetically to those of Europe than to those of western North America. Most groups of insects have not been examined for such trans-Atlantic vicariances, but studies reviewed in this paper suggest such relationships for some groups of Collembola, Hemiptera, Homoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera.The last suitable land connections between Europe and eastern North America were severed approximately 20–35 million years ago. The insects separated by this severance evolved at different rates. Some groups split in this way have apparently undergone little evolution and have the same species on both sides of the North Atlantic, but other vicarious groups have differentiated into taxa that are now distinct at specific and supra-specific levels.The opening of the North Atlantic probably split both tropical- and temperate-adapted insects in Euramerica. However, without fossil data it is difficult to identify the biogeographical patterns resulting from such splitting of the tropical-adapted groups. Most presently recognized European and eastern North American vicarious patterns of insects were probably caused by division of Euramerica rather than dispersal across Beringia.

scholarly journals Past and possible future influence of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation on the climate responsible for concentration of geopolitical power and wealth in the North Atlantic region

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 251601921987856
Author(s):  
L Bruce Railsback
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Atmospheric Precipitation ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
The North ◽  
Meridional Overturning ◽  
The North Atlantic

Previous research has shown that nations that controlled global-scale empires over the most recent centuries and presently possess great per-capita wealth are in Earth’s two largest regions of regular moderate rainfall. That rainfall regime is the pattern of atmospheric precipitation most supportive of agriculture and water-wheel-powered industry, both of which presumably contributed to those nations’ advancement. Those regions of regular moderate rainfall ring the North Atlantic, and this article reviews the evidence that the Gulf Stream delivers warm vapor-releasing water in the upper limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, generating the distinctive climate of western Europe and eastern North America. Ocean circulation’s control on continental climate has thus contributed significantly to the Euro-American concentration of wealth and geopolitical power that has dominated the last few centuries of human history. However, comparison of the present apparent weakening or failure of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation with both the early Holocene 8.2 ka event and modeling of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation’s diminished generation of water vapor suggests that Europe and eastern North America may lose their beneficent climate pattern as rainfall there lessens.

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