El Niño and the Earth's Climate

The dominant paradigm of paleoclimatology holds thatfluctuations in the oceans' meridional overturningcirculation can explain most past climate changes.There is, however, acute recognition of theimportance of tropical Pacific sea-surfacetemperatures in orchestrating modern climatevariability on timescales longer than a few years,epitomized by the El Niño - Southern Oscillationphenomenon (ENSO). This book investigates a subset ofmechanisms whereby low-frequency variability isproduced within the tropical Pacific and exported tothe rest of the globe. We first develop an analyticaltheory of decadal changes in the tropical Pacific,making the case that local air/sea interactions canaccount for the observed variability. Next we use amodel of intermediate complexity to explore theresponse of the ENSO system to changes volcanic andsolar forcing over the Holocene. In both cases weconfront our model predictions to the paleoclimaterecord. We close by a study of ENSO teleconnectionsduring the last Ice Age. This work is aimed atscholars and graduate students in climatologyinterested in theories of tropically-driven climatechange, with equal emphasis on models and data.

Autorentext

Julien Emile-Geay, PhD. Studied Earth Sciences at the Ecole
Normale Supérieure (Paris, France) and Climate Dynamics at the
Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, New
York. He is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Georgia
Institute of Technology, Atlanta.

Klappentext

The dominant paradigm of paleoclimatology holds that
fluctuations in the oceans' meridional overturning
circulation can explain most past climate changes.
There is, however, acute recognition of the
importance of tropical Pacific sea-surface
temperatures in orchestrating modern climate
variability on timescales longer than a few years,
epitomized by the El Niño - Southern Oscillation
phenomenon (ENSO). This book investigates a subset of
mechanisms whereby low-frequency variability is
produced within the tropical Pacific and exported to
the rest of the globe. We first develop an analytical
theory of decadal changes in the tropical Pacific,
making the case that local air/sea interactions can
account for the observed variability. Next we use a
model of intermediate complexity to explore the
response of the ENSO system to changes volcanic and
solar forcing over the Holocene. In both cases we
confront our model predictions to the paleoclimate
record. We close by a study of ENSO teleconnections
during the last Ice Age. This work is aimed at
scholars and graduate students in climatology
interested in theories of tropically-driven climate
change, with equal emphasis on models and data.