Quasi-decadal variability in solar irradiance has been suggested to exert a substantial effect on Earth’s regional climate. In the North Atlantic sector, the 11-year solar signal has been proposed to project onto a pattern resembling the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), with a lag of a few years due to ocean-atmosphere interactions. The solar/NAO relationship is, however, highly misrepresented in climate model simulations with realistic observed forcings. In addition, its detection is particularly complicated since NAO quasi-decadal fluctuations can be intrinsically generated by the coupled ocean-atmosphere system. Here we compare two multi-decadal ocean-atmosphere chemistry-climate simulations with and without solar forcing variability. While the experiment including solar variability simulates a 1–2-year lagged solar/NAO relationship, comparison of both experiments suggests that the 11-year solar cycle synchronizes quasi-decadal NAO variability intrinsic to the model. The synchronization is consistent with the downward propagation of the solar signal from the stratosphere to the surface.
Original Source [2]
Links:
[1] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/feature-article/solar-forcing-synchronizes-decadal-north-atlantic-climate-variability
[2] http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150915/ncomms9268/full/ncomms9268.html
[3] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/r%C3%A9mi-thi%C3%A9blemont
[4] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/katja-matthes
[5] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/nour-eddine-omrani-et-al
[6] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/journal/nature-communications
[7] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/climate-change
[8] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/north-atlantic-ocean
[9] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/atmosphere
[10] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/climate-science