Climate Variability
Climate variability is the music that drives interannual (year-to-year), decadal (lower-frequency) and even shorter-term fluctuations in climate. These can be thought of as being various musical instruments playing in a symphony, at certain times the obo is more prominent, at others the violin might take center stage. Climate includes climate variability and hence we need to understand mechanisms behind processes and how they alter regional climate.
Readings
Key Concepts
Definitions
Web links
Abbreviated Lecture Notes
Videos
Climate variability is the music that drives interannual (year-to-year), decadal (lower-frequency) and even shorter-term fluctuations in climate. These can be thought of as being various musical instruments playing in a symphony, at certain times the obo is more prominent, at others the violin might take center stage. Climate includes climate variability and hence we need to understand mechanisms behind processes and how they alter regional climate.
Readings
- B&H: Chapter 6, pp 103-115
- Climate Oscillations NCAR
- Climate Variability in North America, Redmond and Abatzoglou, 2014
- El Nino-Southern Oscillation, Marshall, 2006
- The Pacific Decadal Oscillation, Mantua, 2002
- Slowdown of the Walker Circulation in a warming climate
Key Concepts
- Why do we care about climate variability?
- What processes drive memory in the climate system? What do we mean by climate memory?
- Can we predict climate variability?
Definitions
- The O's: ENSO, PDO, AO and the PNA
- Teleconnections
- Walker Circulation
Web links
- Climate Variability lectures from NCAR
- The climate dogs (an Australian basis): MJO, ENSO, Southern Annular Mode,
- The Pacific Decadal Oscillation
Abbreviated Lecture Notes
Videos