The impacts of the Luni-Solar oscillation on the Arctic oscillation

Abstract

The Arctic Oscillation (AO) has a major impact on climate variability in the extra tropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere. In this study, we show that specific alignments between the Sun, the Moon and the Earth known as the Luni-Solar Oscillation (LSO) that occur at frequencies of nearly 9 and 18 years are unambiguously correlated with the AO since the mid-1960's. The occurrence of the LSO peaks is predictable and, as a result, it improves climate predictability. Furthermore, we hypothesize that the recent observed increase in the AO amplitude maybe due to ice melting in the Arctic and SST increases at northern latitudes combined with the recent LSO peaks. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.