Global Patterns of Carbon Dioxide Variability from Satellite Observations

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 225-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xun Jiang ◽  
Yuk L. Yung
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Tropical Region ◽  
Sources And Sinks ◽  
Satellite Technology ◽  
Tropospheric Biennial Oscillation ◽  
Atmospheric Motion ◽  
Northern Hemispheric

Advanced satellite technology has been providing unique observations of global carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations. These observations have revealed important CO2variability at different timescales and over regional and planetary scales. Satellite CO2retrievals have revealed that stratospheric sudden warming and the Madden-Julian Oscillation can modulate atmospheric CO2concentrations in the mid-troposphere. Atmospheric CO2also demonstrates variability at interannual timescales. In the tropical region, the El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the Tropospheric Biennial Oscillation can change atmospheric CO2concentrations. At high latitudes, mid-tropospheric CO2concentrations can be influenced by the Northern Hemispheric annular mode. In addition to modulations by the large-scale circulations, sporadic events such as wildfires, volcanic eruptions, and droughts, which change CO2surface emissions, can cause atmospheric CO2concentrations to increase significantly. The natural variability of CO2summarized in this review can help us better understand its sources and sinks and its redistribution by atmospheric motion. ▪ Global satellite CO2data offer a unique opportunity to explore CO2variability in different regions. ▪ Atmospheric CO2concentration demonstrates variations at intraseasonal, seasonal, and interannual timescales. ▪ Both large-scale circulations and variations of surface emissions can modulate CO2concentrations in the atmosphere.

scholarly journals Evolving climate network perspectives on global surface air temperature effects of ENSO and strong volcanic eruptions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Kittel ◽  
Catrin Ciemer ◽  
Nastaran Lotfi ◽  
Thomas Peron ◽  
Francisco Rodrigues ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Internal Variability ◽  
Hierarchical Organization ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Global Surface

AbstractEpisodically occurring internal (climatic) and external (non-climatic) disruptions of normal climate variability are known to both affect spatio-temporal patterns of global surface air temperatures (SAT) at time-scales between multiple weeks and several years. The magnitude and spatial manifestation of the corresponding effects depend strongly on the specific type of perturbation and may range from weak spatially coherent yet regionally confined trends to a global reorganization of co-variability due to the excitation or inhibition of certain large-scale teleconnectivity patterns. Here, we employ functional climate network analysis to distinguish qualitatively the global climate responses to different phases of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) from those to the three largest volcanic eruptions since the mid-20th century as the two most prominent types of recurrent climate disruptions. Our results confirm that strong ENSO episodes can cause a temporary breakdown of the normal hierarchical organization of the global SAT field, which is characterized by the simultaneous emergence of consistent regional temperature trends and strong teleconnections. By contrast, the most recent strong volcanic eruptions exhibited primarily regional effects rather than triggering additional long-range teleconnections that would not have been present otherwise. By relying on several complementary network characteristics, our results contribute to a better understanding of climate network properties by differentiating between climate variability reorganization mechanisms associated with internal variability versus such triggered by non-climatic abrupt and localized perturbations.

3. Atmospheric motion

2017 ◽  
pp. 49-64
Author(s):  
Paul I. Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Equilibrium ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Jet Streams ◽  
Circulation Patterns ◽  
Main Driver ◽  
Atmospheric Motion ◽  
Key Features ◽  
The Tropics

Solar activity is the main driver for Earth’s large-scale atmospheric motion. Due to the Earth’s tilt, lower latitudes receive more energy from the Sun that they emit back to space, while the higher latitudes emit more radiation back to space than they receive directly from the Sun. The Earth is in approximate thermal equilibrium, suggesting that energy is being transported from low to high latitudes. The thermal gradient between the tropics and the poles drives the hemispheric circulation. But Earth is rotating and is composed of land and ocean. ‘Atmospheric motion’ outlines the effects of these factors on the atmosphere’s circulation patterns and describes key features such as jet streams and the Southern Oscillation.

scholarly journals Last Millennium Climate and Its Variability in CCSM4

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 1085-1111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Landrum ◽  
Bette L. Otto-Bliesner ◽  
Eugene R. Wahl ◽  
Andrew Conley ◽  
Peter J. Lawrence ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Last Millennium ◽  
Asian Monsoon Region ◽  
Climate System Model ◽  
Proxy Reconstructions ◽  
Large Volcanic Eruptions

Abstract An overview of a simulation referred to as the “Last Millennium” (LM) simulation of the Community Climate System Model, version 4 (CCSM4), is presented. The CCSM4 LM simulation reproduces many large-scale climate patterns suggested by historical and proxy-data records, with Northern Hemisphere (NH) and Southern Hemisphere (SH) surface temperatures cooling to the early 1800s Common Era by ~0.5°C (NH) and ~0.3°C (SH), followed by warming to the present. High latitudes of both hemispheres show polar amplification of the cooling from the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) to the Little Ice Age (LIA) associated with sea ice increases. The LM simulation does not reproduce La Niña–like cooling in the eastern Pacific Ocean during the MCA relative to the LIA, as has been suggested by proxy reconstructions. Still, dry medieval conditions over the southwestern and central United States are simulated in agreement with proxy indicators for these regions. Strong global cooling is associated with large volcanic eruptions, with indications of multidecadal colder climate in response to larger eruptions. The CCSM4’s response to large volcanic eruptions captures some reconstructed patterns of temperature changes over Europe and North America, but not those of precipitation in the Asian monsoon region. The Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) has higher variance at centennial periods in the LM simulation compared to the 1850 nontransient run, suggesting a long-term Atlantic Ocean response to natural forcings. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO), and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability modes show little or no change. CCSM4 does not simulate a persistent positive NAO or a prolonged period of negative PDO during the MCA, as suggested by some proxy reconstructions.

scholarly journals Volcanic Eruptions, Large-Scale Modes in the Northern Hemisphere, and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 910-922 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Christiansen
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
El Niño ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
El Niño Southern Oscillation ◽  
El Nino Southern Oscillation ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The author analyzes the impact of 13 major stratospheric aerosol producing volcanic eruptions since 1870 on the large-scale variability modes of sea level pressure in the Northern Hemisphere winter. The paper focuses on the Arctic Oscillation (AO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) to address the question about the physical nature of these modes. The hypothesis that the phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) may control the geographical extent of the dominant mode in the Northern Hemisphere is also investigated, as well as the related possibility that the impact of the eruptions may be different according to the phase of ENSO. The author finds that both the AO and the NAO are excited in the first winter after the eruptions with statistical significance at the 95% level. Both the signal and the significance are larger for the NAO than for the AO. The excitation of the AO and the NAO is connected with the excitation of a secondary mode, which resembles an augmented Pacific–North American pattern. This mode has opposite polarity in the Atlantic and the Pacific and interferes negatively with the AO in the Pacific and positively in the Atlantic in the first winter after the eruptions, giving the superposition a strong NAO resemblance. Some evidence is found that the correlations between the Atlantic and the Pacific are stronger in the negative ENSO phase than in the positive phase, although this difference is not statistically significant when all data since 1870 are considered. The author does not find any evidence that the impact of the volcanic eruptions is more hemispheric in the negative than in the positive ENSO phase.

scholarly journals Stability of ENSO and its tropical Pacific teleconnections over the Last Millennium

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1579-1613 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. C. Lewis ◽  
A. N. LeGrande
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Coupled Model ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Internal Variability ◽  
Last Millennium ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Proxy Records ◽  
Enso Teleconnections ◽  
The Pacific

Abstract. Determining past changes in the amplitude, frequency and teleconnections of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is important for understanding its potential sensitivity to future anthropogenic climate change. Palaeo-reconstructions from proxy records provide long-term information of ENSO interactions with the background climatic state through time. However, it remains unclear how ENSO characteristics have changed through time, and precisely which signals proxies record. Proxy interpretations are underpinned by the assumption of stationarity in relationships between local and remote climates, and often utilise archives from single locations located in the Pacific Ocean to reconstruct ENSO histories. Here, we investigate the stationarity of ENSO teleconnections using the Last Millennium experiment of CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5) (Taylor et al., 2012). We show that modelled ENSO characteristics vary on decadal- to centennial-scales, resulting from internal variability and external forcings, such as tropical volcanic eruptions. Furthermore, the relationship between ENSO conditions and local climates across the Pacific basin varies throughout the Last Millennium. Results show the stability of teleconnections is regionally dependent and proxies may reveal complex changes in teleconnected patterns, rather than large-scale changes in base ENSO characteristics. As such, proxy insights into ENSO likely require evidence to be synthesised over large spatial areas in order to deconvolve changes occurring in the NINO3.4 region from those pertaining to proxy-relevant local climatic variables. To obtain robust histories of the ENSO and its remote impacts, we recommend interpretations of proxy records should be considered in conjunction with palaeo-reconstructions from within the Central Pacific.

scholarly journals Tropical cyclone activity affected by volcanically induced ITCZ shifts

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (16) ◽  
pp. 7732-7737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco S. R. Pausata ◽  
Suzana J. Camargo
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Induced Changes ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Global Reduction

Volcanic eruptions can affect global climate through changes in atmospheric and ocean circulation, and therefore could impact tropical cyclone (TC) activity. Here, we use ensemble simulations performed with an Earth System Model to investigate the impact of strong volcanic eruptions occurring in the tropical Northern (NH) and Southern (SH) Hemisphere on the large-scale environmental factors that affect TCs. Such eruptions cause a strong asymmetrical hemispheric cooling, either in the NH or SH, which shifts the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) southward or northward, respectively. The ITCZ shift and the associated surface temperature anomalies then cause changes to the genesis potential indices and TC potential intensity. The effect of the volcanic eruptions on the ITCZ and hence on TC activity lasts for at least 4 years. Finally, our analysis suggests that volcanic eruptions do not lead to an overall global reduction in TC activity but rather a redistribution following the ITCZ movement. On the other hand, the volcanically induced changes in El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) or sea-surface temperature do not seem to have a significant impact on TC activity as previously suggested.

scholarly journals Complex network approach for detecting tropical cyclones

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shraddha Gupta ◽  
Niklas Boers ◽  
Florian Pappenberger ◽  
Jürgen Kurths
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Complex Network ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Network Approach ◽  
Sea Level Pressure ◽  
Level Pressure ◽  
Climate Networks

AbstractTropical cyclones (TCs) are one of the most destructive natural hazards that pose a serious threat to society, particularly to those in the coastal regions. In this work, we study the temporal evolution of the regional weather conditions in relation to the occurrence of TCs using climate networks. Climate networks encode the interactions among climate variables at different locations on the Earth’s surface, and in particular, time-evolving climate networks have been successfully applied to study different climate phenomena at comparably long time scales, such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, different monsoon systems, or the climatic impacts of volcanic eruptions. Here, we develop and apply a complex network approach suitable for the investigation of the relatively short-lived TCs. We show that our proposed methodology has the potential to identify TCs and their tracks from mean sea level pressure (MSLP) data. We use the ERA5 reanalysis MSLP data to construct successive networks of overlapping, short-length time windows for the regions under consideration, where we focus on the north Indian Ocean and the tropical north Atlantic Ocean. We compare the spatial features of various topological properties of the network, and the spatial scales involved, in the absence and presence of a cyclone. We find that network measures such as degree and clustering exhibit significant signatures of TCs and have striking similarities with their tracks. The study of the network topology over time scales relevant to TCs allows us to obtain crucial insights into the effects of TCs on the spatial connectivity structure of sea-level pressure fields.

scholarly journals Spatio-temporal associations of albacore CPUEs in the Northeastern Pacific with regional SST and climate environmental variables

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (7) ◽  
pp. 1717-1727 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Jason Phillips ◽  
Lorenzo Ciannelli ◽  
Richard D. Brodeur ◽  
William G. Pearcy ◽  
John Childers
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Spatial Dynamics ◽  
Catch Per Unit Effort ◽  
Variable Effect ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
The North ◽  
Additive Mixed Models

Abstract This study investigated the spatial distribution of juvenile North Pacific albacore (Thunnus alalunga) in relation to local environmental variability [i.e. sea surface temperature (SST)], and two large-scale indices of climate variability, [the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and the Multivariate El Niño/Southern Oscillation Index (MEI)]. Changes in local and climate variables were correlated with 48 years of albacore troll catch per unit effort (CPUE) in 1° latitude/longitude cells, using threshold Generalized Additive Mixed Models (tGAMMs). Model terms were included to account for non-stationary and spatially variable effects of the intervening covariates on albacore CPUE. Results indicate that SST had a positive and spatially variable effect on albacore CPUE, with increasingly positive effects to the North, while PDO had an overall negative effect. Although albacore CPUE increased with SST both before and after a threshold year of 1986, such effect geographically shifted north after 1986. This is the first study to demonstrate the non-stationary spatial dynamics of albacore tuna, linked with a major shift of the North Pacific. Results imply that if ocean temperatures continue to increase, US west coast fisher communities reliant on commercial albacore fisheries are likely to be negatively affected in the southern areas but positively affected in the northern areas, where current albacore landings are highest.

scholarly journals Effects of Climatic Drivers and Teleconnections on Late 20th Century Trends in Spring Freshet of Four Major Arctic-Draining Rivers

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 179
Author(s):  
Roxanne Ahmed ◽  
Terry Prowse ◽  
Yonas Dibike ◽  
Barrie Bonsal
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
The Arctic Ocean ◽  
Spring Freshet ◽  
Climatic Drivers

Spring freshet is the dominant annual discharge event in all major Arctic draining rivers with large contributions to freshwater inflow to the Arctic Ocean. Research has shown that the total freshwater influx to the Arctic Ocean has been increasing, while at the same time, the rate of change in the Arctic climate is significantly higher than in other parts of the globe. This study assesses the large-scale atmospheric and surface climatic conditions affecting the magnitude, timing and regional variability of the spring freshets by analyzing historic daily discharges from sub-basins within the four largest Arctic-draining watersheds (Mackenzie, Ob, Lena and Yenisei). Results reveal that climatic variations closely match the observed regional trends of increasing cold-season flows and earlier freshets. Flow regulation appears to suppress the effects of climatic drivers on freshet volume but does not have a significant impact on peak freshet magnitude or timing measures. Spring freshet characteristics are also influenced by El Niño-Southern Oscillation, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, the Arctic Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation, particularly in their positive phases. The majority of significant relationships are found in unregulated stations. This study provides a key insight into the climatic drivers of observed trends in freshet characteristics, whilst clarifying the effects of regulation versus climate at the sub-basin scale.

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