Climate Variability Over the North Atlantic

Abstract This chapter provides a broad review of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and its forcing of the North Atlantic Ocean. Of particular interest is the long, irregular amplification of the oscillation towards one extreme phase during winter over recent decades. This climatic event, which is...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hurrell, James W., Dickson, Robert R.
Format: Book Part
Language:unknown
Published: Oxford University PressOxford 2005
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Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198507499.003.0002
https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/44914228/book_12411_section_162030339.ag.pdf
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Summary:Abstract This chapter provides a broad review of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and its forcing of the North Atlantic Ocean. Of particular interest is the long, irregular amplification of the oscillation towards one extreme phase during winter over recent decades. This climatic event, which is unprecedented in the modern instrumental record of NAO behaviour, has produced a wide range of effects on North Atlantic ecosystems. Some attention will also be given to the climatic impacts of periods of atypical NAO behaviour, such as the spatial displacement of the main centres of action in some winters, or to periods when other patterns of large-scale Atlantic climate variability are more pronounced.