El Niño–Global Atmospheric Oscillation as the Main Mode of Interannual Climate Variability

The interannual variability of the global mean monthly anomalies of near-surface air temperature, sea-level pressure, wind speed near the surface, amount of precipitation and total cloudiness was investigated. The amplitudes of the anomalies of these hydrometeorological characteristics between oppos...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Atmosphere
Main Authors: Ilya V. Serykh, Dmitry M. Sonechkin
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12111443
https://doaj.org/article/8ca38cda698e46b6ae76b00ce9f2737c
Description
Summary:The interannual variability of the global mean monthly anomalies of near-surface air temperature, sea-level pressure, wind speed near the surface, amount of precipitation and total cloudiness was investigated. The amplitudes of the anomalies of these hydrometeorological characteristics between opposite phases of the Global Atmospheric Oscillation (GAO) were calculated. The regional element of the GAO in the tropics of the Indian and Pacific Oceans is the Southern Oscillation. The results show that the oscillations of these characteristics are associated with the GAO not only in the tropical belt of the Earth but also in the middle and high latitudes, especially in the Arctic and northern Eurasia. The physical mechanism by which the transition of the GAO from the negative to the positive phase influences the weakening of the Pacific trade winds, and, as a consequence, the onset of El Niño is described.