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Arctic air temperature change amplification and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation
Author(s) -
Chylek Petr,
Folland Chris K.,
Lesins Glen,
Dubey Manvendra K.,
Wang Muyin
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2009gl038777
Subject(s) - climatology , arctic geoengineering , arctic dipole anomaly , arctic , atlantic multidecadal oscillation , arctic sea ice decline , thermohaline circulation , environmental science , global warming , arctic ice pack , north atlantic oscillation , the arctic , climate change , oceanography , permafrost , geology , drift ice
Understanding Arctic temperature variability is essential for assessing possible future melting of the Greenland ice sheet, Arctic sea ice and Arctic permafrost. Temperature trend reversals in 1940 and 1970 separate two Arctic warming periods (1910–1940 and 1970–2008) by a significant 1940–1970 cooling period. Analyzing temperature records of the Arctic meteorological stations we find that (a) the Arctic amplification (ratio of the Arctic to global temperature trends) is not a constant but varies in time on a multi‐decadal time scale, (b) the Arctic warming from 1910–1940 proceeded at a significantly faster rate than the current 1970–2008 warming, and (c) the Arctic temperature changes are highly correlated with the Atlantic Multi‐decadal Oscillation (AMO) suggesting the Atlantic Ocean thermohaline circulation is linked to the Arctic temperature variability on a multi‐decadal time scale.