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7 - Climate variability

from Part II - Global Physical Climatology

Gordon B. Bonan
Gordon B. Bonan
Affiliation:
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
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Summary

Chapter summary

The previous chapters focused on the mean state of the atmosphere and climate zones. However, the realized temperature and precipitation in any year can deviate markedly from the long-term climatology. Some years are warmer or colder than normal; some are wetter or drier than normal. This is a realization of climate variability at seasonal-to-interannual timescales. Major modes of climate variability include the El Niño/Southern Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation. El Niño is a large-scale warming of sea surface temperature in the eastern tropical Pacific. It is associated with a reduced Walker Circulation that weakens the trade winds, with below normal rainfall in the western tropical Pacific and above normal rainfall along the equator east of the dateline. The changes in tropical sea surface temperature and atmospheric circulation affect temperature and precipitation worldwide. The North Atlantic Oscillation is associated with changes in the strength of the Icelandic low and subtropical high in the North Atlantic during winter. This affects the strength of middle latitude westerlies, with consequences for winter temperature and precipitation from eastern North America to Europe and Asia.

Floods, droughts, and heat waves

Climate is often described in terms of climatic means, typically defined by 30-year averages. For example, the mean temperature for the month of July in central England during the period 1971–2000 was 16.5 – (Fig. 7.1). However, the monthly temperature varied considerably from this 30-year mean in any given year.

Type
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Ecological Climatology
Concepts and Applications
 , pp. 88 - 104
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

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  • Climate variability
  • Gordon B. Bonan, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
  • Book: Ecological Climatology
  • Online publication: 05 April 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805530.008
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  • Climate variability
  • Gordon B. Bonan, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
  • Book: Ecological Climatology
  • Online publication: 05 April 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805530.008
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Climate variability
  • Gordon B. Bonan, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
  • Book: Ecological Climatology
  • Online publication: 05 April 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805530.008
Available formats
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