scholarly journals Pacific multidecadal (50–70 year) variability instigated by volcanic forcing during the Little Ice Age (1250–1850)

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiyi Sun ◽  
Jian Liu ◽  
Bin Wang ◽  
Deliang Chen ◽  
Chaochao Gao
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Internal Variability ◽  
Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Decadal Climate Variability ◽  
The North ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Volcanic Forcing ◽  
Decadal Climate

AbstractThe Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) is the leading mode of decadal climate variability over the North Pacific. However, it remains unknown to what extent external forcings can influence the PDO’s periodicity and magnitude over the past 2000 years. We show that the paleo-assimilation products (LMR) and proxy data suggest a 20–40 year PDO occurred during both the Mediaeval Climate Anomaly (MCA, ~ 750–1150) and Little Ice Age (LIA, ~ 1250–1850) while a salient 50–70 year variance peak emerged during the LIA. These results are reproduced well by the CESM simulations in the all-forcing (AF) and single volcanic forcing (Vol) experiments. We show that the 20–40 year PDO is an intrinsic mode caused by internal variability but the 50–70 year PDO during the LIA is a forced mode primarily shaped by volcanic forcing. The intrinsic mode develops in tandem with tropical ENSO-like anomalies, while the forced mode develops from the western Pacific and unrelated to tropical sea surface temperature anomalies. The volcanism-induced land–sea thermal contrast may trigger anomalous northerlies over the western North Pacific (WNP), leading to reduced northward heat transport and the cooling in the Kuroshio–Oyashio Extension (KOE), generating the forced mode. A 50–70 year Atlantic multidecadal oscillation founded during the LIA under volcanic forcing may also contribute to the forced mode. These findings shed light on the interplay between the internal variability and external forcing and the present and future changes of the PDO.

Cuban stalagmite suggests relationship between Caribbean precipitation and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation during the past 1.3 ka

The Holocene ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 1405-1412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Fensterer ◽  
Denis Scholz ◽  
Dirk Hoffmann ◽  
Christoph Spötl ◽  
Jesús M Pajón ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Rainfall Intensity ◽  
Thermohaline Circulation ◽  
Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
The Past ◽  
The North ◽  
Southward Shift ◽  
The North Atlantic

Here we present the first high-resolution δ18O record of a stalagmite from western Cuba. The record reflects precipitation variability in the northwestern Caribbean during the last 1.3 ka and exhibits a correlation to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). This suggests a relationship between Caribbean rainfall intensity and North Atlantic sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies. A potential mechanism for this relationship may be the strength of the Thermohaline Circulation (THC). For a weaker THC, lower SSTs in the North Atlantic possibly lead to a southward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and drier conditions in Cuba. Thus, this Cuban stalagmite records drier conditions during cold phases in the North Atlantic such as the ‘Little Ice Age’. This study contributes to the understanding of teleconnections between North Atlantic SSTs and northern Caribbean climate variability during the past 1.3 ka.

Exploring North Atlantic and North Pacific Decadal Climate Prediction Using Self-Organizing Maps

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinxue Gu ◽  
Melissa Gervais
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Internal Variability ◽  
Climate Prediction ◽  
Self Organizing Maps ◽  
The North ◽  
Decadal Climate ◽  
The North Pacific ◽  
Decadal Climate Prediction ◽  
Self Organizing

<p>Decadal climate prediction can provide invaluable information for decisions made by government agencies and industry. Modes of internal variability of the ocean play an important role in determining the climate on decadal time scales. This study explores the possibility of using self-organizing maps (SOMs) to identify decadal climate variability with the ultimate goal of improving decadal climate prediction. SOM is applied to 11-year running mean winter Sea Surface Temperature (SST) in the North Pacific and North Atlantic within the Community Earth System Model 1850 pre-industrial simulation to identify patterns of internal variability in SSTs. Transition probability tables are calculated to identify preferred paths through the SOM with time.  Results show both persistence and preferred evolutions of SST depending on the initial SST pattern.  This method also provides a measure of the predictability of these SST patterns, with the North Atlantic being predictable at longer lead times than the North Pacific. In addition, decadal SST predictions using persistence and lagged transition probabilities are conducted.</p>

scholarly journals The Influences of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation on the Mean Strength of the North Pacific Subtropical High during Boreal Winter

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 411-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kewei Lyu ◽  
Jin-Yi Yu ◽  
Houk Paek
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Stationary Wave ◽  
Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation ◽  
Wave Pattern ◽  
Subtropical High ◽  
Sea Level Pressure ◽  
The North ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The North Pacific

The Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) has been shown to be capable of exerting significant influences on the Pacific climate. In this study, the authors analyze reanalysis datasets and conduct forced and coupled experiments with an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) to explain why the winter North Pacific subtropical high strengthens and expands northwestward during the positive phase of the AMO. The results show that the tropical Atlantic warming associated with the positive AMO phase leads to a westward displacement of the Pacific Walker circulation and a cooling of the tropical Pacific Ocean, thereby inducing anomalous descending motion over the central tropical Pacific. The descending motion then excites a stationary Rossby wave pattern that extends northward to produce a nearly barotropic anticyclone over the North Pacific. A diagnosis based on the quasigeostrophic vertical velocity equation reveals that the stationary wave pattern also results in enhanced subsidence over the northeastern Pacific via the anomalous advections of vorticity and temperature. The anomalous barotropic anticyclone and the enhanced subsidence are the two mechanisms that increase the sea level pressure over the North Pacific. The latter mechanism occurs to the southeast of the former one and thus is more influential in the subtropical high region. Both mechanisms can be produced in forced and coupled AGCMs but are displaced northward as a result of stationary wave patterns that differ from those observed. This explains why the model-simulated North Pacific sea level pressure responses to the AMO tend to be biased northward.

scholarly journals Pacific Decadal Oscillation: Tropical Pacific Forcing versus Internal Variability

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (20) ◽  
pp. 8265-8279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Zhang ◽  
Shang-Ping Xie ◽  
Yu Kosaka ◽  
Jun-Chao Yang
Keyword(s):  
Energy Conversion ◽  
Pacific Decadal Oscillation ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Internal Variability ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
The North ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Barotropic Energy Conversion ◽  
The North Pacific ◽  
Sst Anomalies

The Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) is the leading mode of sea surface temperature (SST) variability over the North Pacific (north of 20°N). Its South Pacific counterpart (south of 20°S) is the South Pacific decadal oscillation (SPDO). The effects of tropical eastern Pacific (TEP) SST forcing and internal atmospheric variability are investigated for both the PDO and SPDO using a 10-member ensemble tropical Pacific pacemaker experiment. Each member is forced by the historical radiative forcing and observed SST anomalies in the TEP region. Outside the TEP region, the ocean and atmosphere are fully coupled and freely evolve. The TEP-forced PDO (54% variance) and SPDO (46% variance) are correlated in time and exhibit a symmetric structure about the equator, driven by the Pacific–North American (PNA) and Pacific–South American teleconnections, respectively. The internal PDO resembles the TEP-forced component but is related to internal Aleutian low (AL) variability associated with the Northern Hemisphere annular mode and PNA pattern. The internal variability is locally enhanced by barotropic energy conversion in the westerly jet exit region around the Aleutians. By contrast, barotropic energy conversion is weak associated with the internal SPDO, resulting in weak geographical preference of sea level pressure variability. Therefore, the internal SPDO differs from the TEP-forced component, featuring SST anomalies along ~60°S in association with the Southern Hemisphere annular mode. The limitations on isolating the internal component from observations are discussed. Specifically, internal PDO variability appears to contribute significantly to the North Pacific regime shift in the 1940s.

Exploring North Atlantic and North Pacific Decadal Climate Prediction Using Self-Organizing Maps

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-141
Author(s):  
Qinxue Gu ◽  
Melissa Gervais
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Transition Probability ◽  
Internal Variability ◽  
Self Organizing Maps ◽  
The North ◽  
Decadal Climate ◽  
The North Pacific ◽  
Decadal Climate Prediction

AbstractDecadal climate prediction can provide invaluable information for decisions made by government agencies and industry. Modes of internal variability of the ocean play an important role in determining the climate on decadal time scales. This study explores the possibility of using self-organizing maps (SOMs) to identify decadal climate variability, measure theoretical decadal predictability, and conduct decadal predictions of internal climate variability within a long control simulation. SOM is applied to an 11-yr running-mean winter sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans within the Community Earth System Model 1850 preindustrial simulation to identify patterns of internal variability in SSTs. Transition probability tables are calculated to identify preferred paths through the SOM with time. Results show both persistence and preferred evolutions of SST depending on the initial SST pattern. This method also provides a measure of the predictability of these SST patterns, with the North Atlantic being predictable at longer lead times than the North Pacific. In addition, decadal SST predictions using persistence, a first-order Markov chain, and lagged transition probabilities are conducted. The lagged transition probability predictions have a reemergence of prediction skill around lag 15 for both domains. Although the prediction skill is very low, it does imply that the SOM has the ability to predict some aspects of the internal variability of the system beyond 10 years.

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