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Role of the Annular Modes in Climate Variability. John M. Wallace University of Washington David W. J. Thompson Colorado State University. The most important variations… consist of shifts in mass between two homogeneous zones, one centered near 65°N and one centered near 35°N.
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Role of the Annular Modes in Climate Variability John M. Wallace University of Washington David W. J. Thompson Colorado State University
The most important variations… consist of shifts in mass between two homogeneous zones, one centered near 65°N and one centered near 35°N. U55 is a good index of the principal variations of pressure differences
North Atlantic Oscillation Zonal Index Cycle Annular Mode
North Atlantic Oscillation Zonal Index Cycle Annular Mode 47,500 98,400
150,000 North Atlantic Oscillation Zonal Index Cycle Annular Mode 47,500 98,400
Trend Annular Mode
Annular Mode Trend total trend contribution from modes
Some Outstanding Questions • Why the trend in the JFM NAM?
Some Outstanding Questions • Why the trend in the JFM NAM? • Are annular modes important on time scales longer than 100 years -- Maunder Minimum
Empirical GISS Model Shindell et al., Science, 2001
Some Outstanding Questions • Why the trend in the JFM NAM? • Are annular modes important on time scales longer than 100 years -- Maunder Minimum -- Milankovitch cycles
Sensitive dependence on initial conditions Butterfly effect Lorenz model Strange Attractor 149,000
Sensitive dependence on initial conditions Butterfly effect Lorenz model Strange Attractor 456,000 149,000
Sensitive dependence on initial conditions Butterfly effect 1,850,000 1,940,000 Lorenz model Strange Attractor 456,000 149,000
Available Potential Energy 8.860,000 Ape
Available Potential Energy 8.860,000 Ape 4,770,000