Abstract

The cause of decadal climate variability over the North Pacific Ocean and North America is investigated by the analysis of data from a multidecadal integration with a state-of-the-art coupled ocean-atmosphere model and observations. About one-third of the low-frequency climate variability in the region of interest can be attributed to a cycle involving unstable air-sea interactions between the subtropical gyre circulation in the North Pacific and the Aleutian low-pressure system. The existence of this cycle provides a basis for long-range climate forecasting over the western United States at decadal time scales.

Keywords

Ocean gyreClimatologyPacific decadal oscillationOceanographySubtropicsEnvironmental scienceGeneral Circulation ModelRange (aeronautics)Pacific oceanClimate modelClimate changeNorth Pacific HighSea surface temperatureGeology

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Publication Info

Year
1994
Type
article
Volume
266
Issue
5185
Pages
634-637
Citations
1071
Access
Closed

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Mojib Latif, T. P. Barnett (1994). Causes of Decadal Climate Variability over the North Pacific and North America. Science , 266 (5185) , 634-637. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.266.5185.634

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DOI
10.1126/science.266.5185.634