Natural variation: Warm North Atlantic Ocean promotes extreme winters in US and Europe
Wednesday, April 2, 2014 - 06:00
in Earth & Climate
The extreme cold weather observed across Europe and the east coast of the US in recent winters could be partly down to natural, long-term variations in sea surface temperatures, according to a new study. Researchers have shown that a phenomenon known as the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) -- a natural pattern of variation in North Atlantic sea surface temperatures that switches between a positive and negative phase every 60-70 years -- can affect an atmospheric circulation pattern, known as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), that influences the temperature and precipitation over the Northern Hemisphere in winter.