Letter abstract
Nature Geoscience 1, 844–848 (2008)
Published online: 9 November 2008 | doi:10.1038/ngeo352
Subject Categories: Palaeoclimate and palaeoceanography | Climate science
Increased multidecadal variability of the North Atlantic Oscillation since 1781
Nathalie F. Goodkin1,2, Konrad A. Hughen1, Scott C. Doney1 & William B. Curry1
The North Atlantic Oscillation is a meridional oscillation of atmospheric mass measured between Iceland and the Açores1, 2, which drives winter climate variability in eastern North America and Europe. A prolonged period of the positive phase during the 1990s led to the suggestion that anthropogenic warming was affecting the behaviour of the North Atlantic Oscillation3, 4. However, instrumental records1, 5 are too short to compare observations during periods of extended warm and cold hemispheric temperatures, and existing palaeoclimate reconstructions6, 7 primarily capture terrestrial variability. Here we present a record of Sr/Ca, a sea surface temperature proxy, from a Bermuda coral from 1781 to 1999. We use this monthly resolved record to reconstruct past variability of the North Atlantic Oscillation at multiple frequencies. Our record shows enhanced multidecadal scale variability during the late twentieth century compared with the end of the Little Ice Age (1800–1850). We suggest that variability within the North Atlantic Oscillation is linked to the mean temperature of the Northern Hemisphere, which must be considered in any long-term predictions.
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, U.S.A.
- University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR
Correspondence to: Nathalie F. Goodkin1,2; e-mail: goodkin@hku.hk
Link to abstract: http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v1/n12/abs/ngeo352.html
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