The evolution of the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation since 1980
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a key component of the climate through its transport of heat in the North Atlantic Ocean. Decadal changes in the AMOC, whether through internal variability or anthropogenically forced weakening, therefore have wide-ranging impacts. In this Re...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:532667 2023-05-15T17:26:44+02:00 The evolution of the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation since 1980 Jackson, Laura C. Biastoch, Arne Buckley, Martha W. Desbruyères, Damien G. Frajka-Williams, Eleanor Moat, Ben Robson, Jon 2022-03-01 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532667/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532667/1/nature_review_preprint.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-022-00263-2 en eng https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532667/1/nature_review_preprint.pdf Jackson, Laura C.; Biastoch, Arne; Buckley, Martha W.; Desbruyères, Damien G.; Frajka-Williams, Eleanor orcid:0000-0001-8773-7838 Moat, Ben orcid:0000-0001-8676-7779 Robson, Jon. 2022 The evolution of the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation since 1980. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 3 (4). 241-254. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-022-00263-2 <https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-022-00263-2> Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2022 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-022-00263-2 2023-02-04T19:53:18Z The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a key component of the climate through its transport of heat in the North Atlantic Ocean. Decadal changes in the AMOC, whether through internal variability or anthropogenically forced weakening, therefore have wide-ranging impacts. In this Review, we synthesize the understanding of contemporary decadal variability in the AMOC, bringing together evidence from observations, ocean reanalyses, forced models and AMOC proxies. Since 1980, there is evidence for periods of strengthening and weakening, although the magnitudes of change (5–25%) are uncertain. In the subpolar North Atlantic, the AMOC strengthened until the mid-1990s and then weakened until the early 2010s, with some evidence of a strengthening thereafter; these changes are probably linked to buoyancy forcing related to the North Atlantic Oscillation. In the subtropics, there is some evidence of the AMOC strengthening from 2001 to 2005 and strong evidence of a weakening from 2005 to 2014. Such large interannual and decadal variability complicates the detection of ongoing long-term trends, but does not preclude a weakening associated with anthropogenic warming. Research priorities include developing robust and sustainable solutions for the long-term monitoring of the AMOC, observation–modelling collaborations to improve the representation of processes in the North Atlantic and better ways to distinguish anthropogenic weakening from internal variability. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 3 4 241 254 |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
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English |
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The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a key component of the climate through its transport of heat in the North Atlantic Ocean. Decadal changes in the AMOC, whether through internal variability or anthropogenically forced weakening, therefore have wide-ranging impacts. In this Review, we synthesize the understanding of contemporary decadal variability in the AMOC, bringing together evidence from observations, ocean reanalyses, forced models and AMOC proxies. Since 1980, there is evidence for periods of strengthening and weakening, although the magnitudes of change (5–25%) are uncertain. In the subpolar North Atlantic, the AMOC strengthened until the mid-1990s and then weakened until the early 2010s, with some evidence of a strengthening thereafter; these changes are probably linked to buoyancy forcing related to the North Atlantic Oscillation. In the subtropics, there is some evidence of the AMOC strengthening from 2001 to 2005 and strong evidence of a weakening from 2005 to 2014. Such large interannual and decadal variability complicates the detection of ongoing long-term trends, but does not preclude a weakening associated with anthropogenic warming. Research priorities include developing robust and sustainable solutions for the long-term monitoring of the AMOC, observation–modelling collaborations to improve the representation of processes in the North Atlantic and better ways to distinguish anthropogenic weakening from internal variability. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jackson, Laura C. Biastoch, Arne Buckley, Martha W. Desbruyères, Damien G. Frajka-Williams, Eleanor Moat, Ben Robson, Jon |
spellingShingle |
Jackson, Laura C. Biastoch, Arne Buckley, Martha W. Desbruyères, Damien G. Frajka-Williams, Eleanor Moat, Ben Robson, Jon The evolution of the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation since 1980 |
author_facet |
Jackson, Laura C. Biastoch, Arne Buckley, Martha W. Desbruyères, Damien G. Frajka-Williams, Eleanor Moat, Ben Robson, Jon |
author_sort |
Jackson, Laura C. |
title |
The evolution of the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation since 1980 |
title_short |
The evolution of the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation since 1980 |
title_full |
The evolution of the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation since 1980 |
title_fullStr |
The evolution of the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation since 1980 |
title_full_unstemmed |
The evolution of the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation since 1980 |
title_sort |
evolution of the north atlantic meridional overturning circulation since 1980 |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532667/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532667/1/nature_review_preprint.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-022-00263-2 |
genre |
North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532667/1/nature_review_preprint.pdf Jackson, Laura C.; Biastoch, Arne; Buckley, Martha W.; Desbruyères, Damien G.; Frajka-Williams, Eleanor orcid:0000-0001-8773-7838 Moat, Ben orcid:0000-0001-8676-7779 Robson, Jon. 2022 The evolution of the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation since 1980. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 3 (4). 241-254. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-022-00263-2 <https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-022-00263-2> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-022-00263-2 |
container_title |
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment |
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3 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
241 |
op_container_end_page |
254 |
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1766118504919990272 |