Low-frequency climate variability in the Atlantic basin during the 20th century

• Main Authors: Tourre, Yves Marcel, Paz, Shlomit, Kushnir, Yochanan, White, Warren B.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Columbia University 2010
• Subjects: Oceanography; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7916/d85x2kpn; https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D85X2KPN

From joint sea surface temperature/sea level pressure (SST/SLP) EOF analyses, lowfrequency variability modes are compared. The multi-decadal oscillation (MDO) changed phases twice during the 20th century, with its north Atlantic SST patterns resembling the Atlantic multi-decadal oscillation (AMO). The quasi-decadal oscillation (QDO) SST patterns displayed a double tripole configuration over the entire Atlantic basin, leading to tropical inter-hemispheric out-of-phase relationship. From the mid-1960s onward, while ST anomalies were negative to the north (negative phases of MDO/AMO), the Sahelian drought persisted with a weaker hurricane power dissipation index (PDI). During that period, the QDO modulated the intensity of the Sahelian drought.