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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 36,
L14801,
5 PP., 2009
doi:10.1029/2009GL038777
Arctic air temperature change amplification and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation
Space and Remote Sensing, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Change, Exeter, UK
Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Earth and Environmental Sciences, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
Understanding Arctic temperature variability is essential for assessing possible future melting of the Greenland ice sheet, Arctic sea ice and Arctic permafrost. Temperature trend reversals in 1940 and 1970 separate two Arctic warming periods (1910–1940 and 1970–2008) by a significant 1940–1970 cooling period. Analyzing temperature records of the Arctic meteorological stations we find that (a) the Arctic amplification (ratio of the Arctic to global temperature trends) is not a constant but varies in time on a multi-decadal time scale, (b) the Arctic warming from 1910–1940 proceeded at a significantly faster rate than the current 1970–2008 warming, and (c) the Arctic temperature changes are highly correlated with the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO) suggesting the Atlantic Ocean thermohaline circulation is linked to the Arctic temperature variability on a multi-decadal time scale.
Received 19 April 2009; accepted 9 June 2009; published 16 July 2009.
Citation: (2009), Arctic air temperature change amplification and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L14801, doi:10.1029/2009GL038777.
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