Atlantic Niña is a natural climate pattern characterized by cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures in the eastern equatorial Atlantic Ocean. It’s considered the 'cold phase' of what oceanographers call the Atlantic Zonal Mode, similar to how La Niña is the cold phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the Pacific. Looking at the latest NOAA... Continue Reading →
I asked Gemini (Flash 2.5) about the signal-to-noise paradox regarding the North Atlantic Oscillation, which is one of the emerging new ideas (or concepts) in climate research. Here is the reply. Yes, I am familiar with the signal-to-noise paradox, especially as it relates to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). It's a significant and intriguing challenge... Continue Reading →
The Antarctic Slope Current (ASC) is the westward-flowing coastal current system around Antarctica, largely driven by easterly winds. It serves as a barrier to heat and salt exchanges between the cold, fresh Antarctic ice shelf region and the warm, salty Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) in the Southern Ocean. A weakening of the ASC allows more... Continue Reading →
As the Earth warms due to anthropogenic climate change, sea- and land-based ice melts, adding buoyant freshwater to the surface of the high-latitude North Atlantic and thus decreasing salinity. This makes the surface water lighter reducing the sinking of the surface water and thus the AMOC. However, the amount of added freshwater is not enough... Continue Reading →
Adams, K. H., Reager, J. T., Buzzanga, B. A., David, C. H., Sawyer, A. H., & Hamlington, B. D. (2024). Climate-induced saltwater intrusion in 2100: Recharge-driven severity, sea level-driven prevalence. Geophysical Research Letters, 51, e2024GL110359. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110359: The projected increase in regional saltwater intrusion to Aquafer (for drinking & etc) is driven not only (1) by... Continue Reading →
The current state-of-the-art climate models suggest that the human-induced weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) has already begun since the mid-1980s. However, continuous direct observational records during the past two decades have shown no clear sign of a slowing down of the AMOC. To shed light on this apparent contradiction, a new study... Continue Reading →
Tropical cyclone (TC) activity results in substantial loss of life and property damage. While the Atlantic basin has experienced a pronounced increase in accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) and the number of TCs over the past 50 years, TC-resolving climate models project a slight decrease in TC frequency throughout the 21st century (e.g., Roberts et al.,... Continue Reading →
Scientists have been monitoring the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) at around 26.5°N since April 2004 through the RAPID/Meridional Overturning Circulation and Heatflux Array/Western Boundary Time Series moored array (RAPID). The newly released RAPID dataset fully incorporated a recent geomagnetic correction of the submarine cable measurement of the Florida Current transport, a critical component of... Continue Reading →
As of 2024, there are currently 70 permanent research stations from 29 countries scattered around the continent of Antarctica conducting important scientific research to better understand the Earth system and its changes due to human activity. In the Arctic, however, there are no such permanent research stations because there is no land in the Arctic.... Continue Reading →
The Labrador Sea is one of the main regions where the surface Atlantic water loses its heat to the atmosphere (thus gets heavier) and sinks into the deep ocean, producing what's known as deep ocean convection that mainly drives the Atlantic Meridional Ocean Circulation (AMOC). It is also characterized by the Labrador Current, a strong... Continue Reading →
Ocean to Climate 