Roles of the Rocky Mountains in the Atlantic and Pacific Meridional Overturning Circulations

The effect of the Rocky Mountains (RM) on meridional overturning circulations (MOCs) is investigated using a fully coupled climate model. Located between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the RM is the major mountains in North America. It presence plays an important role in atmospheric moisture transport between the two oceans. Adding the RM to a flat global continent (OnlyRocky) leads to a weakening of the atmospheric moisture transport from the North Pacific to the North Atlantic, which is consistent with previous finding. However, the simulation also shows more atmospheric moisture is transported from the tropical Pacific and Atlantic to the North Atlantic. The net effect of moisture transport leads to a slight freshening of the North Atlantic. The Atlantic MOC (AMOC) is hardly changed, but the Pacific MOC (PMOC) declines by 40% due to more moisture retained in the North Pacific. The sensitivity experiment of removing the RM from a realistic global topography (NoRocky) gives roughly opposite atmospheric changes to the OnlyRocky experiment. The AMOC in NoRocky declines slightly and then recovers, while the PMOC is nearly unchanged. The paired experiments conducted in this study demonstrate that the presence of the RM plays a trivial role in Northern Hemisphere deep-water formation.

Changes in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index in the Orinoco and Amazon River Basins: Links to Tropical Atlantic Surface Temperatures

We analyze the observed relationship between sea surface temperatures (SSTs) over the Atlantic Ocean and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in the Orinoco and Amazon basins. Monthly correlations between anomalies of NDVI and SSTs are computed for different regions of the Atlantic Ocean. We also use a mixture of observations and reanalysis products to analyze lagged correlations. Our results show that during August–September (i.e., the dry-to-wet transition season), changes in NDVI in the central Amazon and the so-called Arc of Deforestation are associated with precedent changes in the SSTs of the tropical North Atlantic (TNA) and the Caribbean (CABN) during March–June. Anomalous warming of the CABN and TNA generates changes in surface winds and atmospheric moisture transport in the region, decreasing precipitation, with consequent decreases of soil moisture, moisture recycling, and NDVI. An increase in TNA and CABN SSTs during March–June is also associated with an increase of NDVI over the northern Orinoco during June (i.e., the wet season). Unlike in the southern Amazon, precipitation and soil moisture in the Orinoco basin do not exhibit significant changes associated with SSTs. By contrast, atmospheric moisture recycling and transport increase with warmer SSTs in the TNA. Therefore, for the Orinoco, the link between SSTs and NDVI appears to be related not to changes in precipitation but to changes in moisture recycling. However, the causality between these changes needs to be further explored. These findings highlight the contrasting responses of the Amazon and Orinoco basins to Atlantic temperatures and the dominant role of atmospheric moisture transport linking these responses.

Near-Surface Salinity Reveals the Oceanic Sources of Moisture for Australian Precipitation through Atmospheric Moisture Transport

The long-term trend of sea surface salinity (SSS) reveals an intensification of the global hydrological cycle due to human-induced climate change. This study demonstrates that SSS variability can also be used as a measure of terrestrial precipitation on interseasonal to interannual time scales, and to locate the source of moisture. Seasonal composites during El Niño–Southern Oscillation/Indian Ocean dipole (ENSO/IOD) events are used to understand the variations of moisture transport and precipitation over Australia, and their association with SSS variability. As ENSO/IOD events evolve, patterns of positive or negative SSS anomaly emerge in the Indo-Pacific warm pool region and are accompanied by atmospheric moisture transport anomalies toward Australia. During co-occurring La Niña and negative IOD events, salty anomalies around the Maritime Continent (north of Australia) indicate freshwater export and are associated with a significant moisture transport that converges over Australia to create anomalous wet conditions. In contrast, during co-occurring El Niño and positive IOD events, a moisture transport divergence anomaly over Australia results in anomalous dry conditions. The relationship between SSS and atmospheric moisture transport also holds for pure ENSO/IOD events but varies in magnitude and spatial pattern. The significant pattern correlation between the moisture flux divergence and SSS anomaly during the ENSO/IOD events highlights the associated ocean–atmosphere coupling. A case study of the extreme hydroclimatic events of Australia (e.g., the 2010/11 Brisbane flood) demonstrates that the changes in SSS occur before the peak of ENSO/IOD events. This raises the prospect that tracking of SSS variability could aid the prediction of Australian rainfall.