Regional Climate Impacts of the Northern Hemisphere Annular Mode

The Northern Hemisphere annular mode (NAM) (also known as the North Atlantic Oscillation) is shown to exert a strong influence on wintertime climate, not only over the Euro-Atlantic half of the hemisphere as documented in previous studies, but over the Pacific half as well. It affects not only the m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: Thompson, David W. J., Wallace, John M.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2001
Subjects:
Multidisciplinary
Pacific
North Atlantic
North Atlantic oscillation
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1058958
https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1058958
Description
Summary:The Northern Hemisphere annular mode (NAM) (also known as the North Atlantic Oscillation) is shown to exert a strong influence on wintertime climate, not only over the Euro-Atlantic half of the hemisphere as documented in previous studies, but over the Pacific half as well. It affects not only the mean conditions, but also the day-to-day variability, modulating the intensity of mid-latitude storms and the frequency of occurrence of high-latitude blocking and cold air outbreaks throughout the hemisphere. The recent trend in the NAM toward its high-index polarity with stronger subpolar westerlies has tended to reduce the severity of winter weather over most middle- and high-latitude Northern Hemisphere continental regions.

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