Regional climate responses to large-scale forcings, such as precessional changes in solar irradiation and increases in anthropogenic greenhouse gases, may be nonlinear as a result of complex interactions among earth system components. Such nonlinear behaviors constitute a major source of climate "surprises" with important socioeconomic and ecological implications. Paleorecords are key for eluci...

The terrestrial carbon dioxide (CO2) budget interacts with the Earth’s climate system on diurnal to centennial and longer time scales, making it critical for climatic prediction and stabilization. Atmospheric observations and global syntheses of CO2 data indicate that the terrestrial biosphere is one the major sources of interannual variability, but the underlying mechanisms operating on differ...

This study uses the China Coastal Waters and Adjacent Seas Reanalysis (CORA) data to investigate the interannual and decadal variability of the Yellow Sea cold watermass (YSCWM) and its relationship to climate indices including the Arctic Oscillation (AO), El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). On the interannual timescale, the strong correlation between win...

Changing patterns of correlations between the historical average June–November Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and October–March precipitation totals for 84 climate divisions in the western US indicate a large amount of variability in SOI/precipitation relations on decadal time scales. Correlations of western US precipitation with SOI and other indices of tropical El Niño–Southern Oscillation ...

The Granger causality test is used to examine the effects of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on global dry/wet conditions. The results show robust relationships between dry/wet conditions and the ocean states, as assessed through a multi-index (standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index and standar...

[1] The effect of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on the frequency and character of Northern Hemisphere major mid-winter stratospheric sudden warmings (SSWs) is evaluated using a meteorological reanalysis data set and comprehensive chemistry-climate models. There is an apparent inconsistency between the impact of opposite phases of ENSO on the seasonal mean vortex and on SSWs: El Niño leads...

Spontaneous transition to superrotation in warm climates simulated by CAM3" (2010). [1] Recent paleoclimate proxy reconstructions show that tropical surface temperatures may have been as high as 35°–40°C in the Early Cenozoic. Here, we study the tropical atmospheric circulation's response to temperatures in this range using a full‐complexity atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM). We find...

Variability of the North Atlantic Oscillation and the Tropical Atlantic dominate the climate of the North Atlantic sector, the underlying ocean and surrounding continents on interannual to decadal time scales. Here we review these phenomena, their climatic impacts and our present state of understanding of their underlying cause. Copyright © 2001 Royal Meteorological Society.

A time-varying regression model is considered, based on monthly precipitation data from gauge measurements. The model accounts for orographic effects, that is elevation and aspect of the terrain. The study area is NCDC climate division 2 in a mountainous area in northern New Mexico. We assess spatio-temporal variability and also trace the dependence of precipitation on El Niño/Southern Oscillat...

Annually laminated stalagmites can be used to construct a precise chronology, and variations in laminae thickness provide an annual growth-rate record that can be used as a proxy for past climate and environmental change. Here, we present and analyse the first composite speleothem annual growth-rate record based on five stalagmites from the same cave system in northwest Scotland, where precipit...