Robson, Jon and Sutton, Rowan T and Archibald, Alex and Cooper, Fenwick and Christensen, Matthew and Gray, Lesley J. and Holliday, N. Penny and Macintosh, Claire and McMillan, Malcom and Moat, Ben and Russo, Maria and Tilling, Rachel and Carslaw, Ken and Desbruyères, Damien and Embury, Owen and Feltham, Daniel L. and Grosvenor, Daniel P. and Josey, Simon and King, Brian and Lewis, Alistair and McCarthy, Gerard and Merchant, Chris and New, Adrian L. and O'Reilly, Christopher H. and Osprey, Scott M. and Readhead, Katie and Scaife, Adam A. and Shepherd, Andrew and Sinha, Bablu and Smeed, David A. and Smith, Doug and Ridout, Andrew and Woolings, Tim and Yang, Mingxi (2018) Recent multivariate changes in the North Atlantic climate system, with a focus on 2005–2016. International Journal of Climatology, 38 (14). pp. 5050-5076. ISSN 1097-0088

Preview

Download (58MB) | Preview

Abstract

Major changes are occurring across the North Atlantic climate system, including in the atmosphere, ocean and cryosphere, and many observed changes are unprecedented in instrumental records. As the changes in the North Atlantic directly affect the climate and air quality of the surrounding continents, it is important to fully understand how and why the changes are taking place, not least to predict how the region will change in the future. To this end, this article characterizes the recent observed changes in the North Atlantic region, especially in the period 2005–2016, across many different aspects of the system including: atmospheric circulation; atmospheric composition; clouds and aerosols; ocean circulation and properties; and the cryosphere. Recent changes include: an increase in the speed of the North Atlantic jet stream in winter; a southward shift in the North Atlantic jet stream in summer, associated with a weakening summer North Atlantic Oscillation; increases in ozone and methane; increases in net absorbed radiation in the mid‐latitude western Atlantic, linked to an increase in the abundance of high level clouds and a reduction in low level clouds; cooling of sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic subpolar gyre, concomitant with increases in the western subtropical gyre, and a decline in the Atlantic Ocean's overturning circulation; a decline in Atlantic sector Arctic sea ice and rapid melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet. There are many interactions between these changes, but these interactions are poorly understood. This article concludes by highlighting some of the key outstanding questions.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	atmosphere; atmospheric composition; cryosphere; observations; ocean, north atlantic;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Institutes > Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units, ICARUS
Item ID:	12178
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.5815
Depositing User:	Gerard McCarthy
Date Deposited:	17 Jan 2020 15:02
Journal or Publication Title:	International Journal of Climatology
Publisher:	Royal Meteorological Society
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

Repository Staff Only(login required)

Item control page

Downloads

Origin of downloads