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Title: The impact of long-term oceanic warming on the Antarctic Oscillation in austral winter

Journal Article · · Scientific Reports
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Nansen-Zhu International Research Center, Institute of Atmospheric Physics; Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Climate Change Research Center; Univ. of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China)
  2. Univ. of Bergen, Bjerknes Ctr. for Climate Research (Norway). Geophysical Inst.; Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Climate Change Research Center; Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Nansen-Zhu International Research Ctr., Inst. of Atmospheric Physics; Nanjing Univ. of Information Science & Technology, Jiangsu (China). Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast & Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters/Key Lab. of Meteorological Disaster, Ministry of Education
  3. Nanjing Univ. of Information Science & Technology, Jiangsu (China). Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters/Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster, Ministry of Education; Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Nansen-Zhu International Research Center, Institute of Atmospheric Physics; Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Climate Change Research Center; Univ. of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China)
  4. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Nansen-Zhu International Research Center, Institute of Atmospheric Physics; Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Climate Change Research Center; Nanjing Univ. of Information Science & Technology, Jiangsu (China). Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters/Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster, Ministry of Education; Univ. of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China)
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Increasing greenhouse gas concentration and ozone depletion are generally considered two important factors that affect the variability of the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO). Here, we find that the first leading mode of sea surface temperature (SST) variability (rotated empirical orthogonal functions) shows a long-term upward trend from 1901 to 2004 and is closely related to the AAO index that is obtained using the observationally constrained reanalysis data. Further, regressions of the sea level pressure and the 500-hPa geopotential height anomalies, against the principle component associated with the long-term SST anomalies, display a seesaw behavior between the middle and high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere in austral winter, which is similar to the high polarity of the AAO. The circulation responses to the long-term oceanic warming in three numerical models are consistent with the observed results. This finding suggests that the long-term oceanic warming is partly responsible for the upward trend of the AAO in austral winter. The thermal wind response to the oceanic warming in South Indian and South Atlantic Ocean may be a possible mechanism for this process.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Program Office; National Key Research and Development Program of China; National Science Foundation of China
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; 2016YFA0600703; 41421004
OSTI ID:
1624342
Journal Information:
Scientific Reports, Vol. 7, Issue 1; ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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