Climate variability in a low-order coupled atmosphere-ocean model

Abstract

The dynamical behavior of the climate system is investigated through the use of a low-order coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model. The climate is strongly affected by interactions with the ocean, leading to distinct atmospheric patterns for different phases in the oscillations, and a conversion of some of the high-frequency atmospheric signal to lower frequencies. This conversion also results in a measurable ocean response at high frequencies. Furthermore, owing to the richness of the atmospheric response to small modifications in the meridional and zonal gradients in diabatic heating, even modest adjustments in the ocean circulation resulting from interactions with the high-frequency atmospheric component can also lead to climate change over relatively short time periods. The results of the model are applied to recent deductions of climate variability in the North Atlantic, obtained from Greenland ice-cores. -from Author