The Global Climate System: Patterns, Processes, and Teleconnections

359 Pages·2006·7.544 MB·English

by  Howard A. Bridgman, John E. Oliver

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TheGlobalClimateSystem
Patterns,Processes,andTeleconnections
Overthelast20years,developmentsinclimatologyhaveprovidedanamazing
arrayofexplanationsforthepatternofworldclimates.Thistextbookexamines
the Earth’s climate systems in light of this incredible growth in data
availability, data retrieval systems, and satellite and computer applications.
It considers regional climate anomalies, developments in teleconnections,
unusualsequencesofrecentclimatechange,andhumanimpactsontheclimate
system. The physical climate forms the main part of the book, but social and
economicaspectsoftheglobalclimatesystemarealsoconsidered.Thistextbook
hasbeenderivedfromtheauthors’extensiveexperienceofteachingclimatology
and atmospheric science. Each chapter contains an essay by aspecialist in the
fieldtoenhancetheunderstandingofselectedtopics.Anextensivebibliography
and lists of websites are included for further study. This textbook will be
invaluable to advanced students of climatology and atmospheric science.
HOWARD A. BRIDGMAN iscurrentlyaConjointProfessorattheUniversity
ofNewcastleinAustralia,havingretiredattheAssociateProfessorlevelin
February2005.HehasheldvisitingscientistpositionsatIndianaUniversity,
USA,theUniversityofEastAnglia,UK,theNationalOceanographicand
AtmosphericAdministration,Boulder,Colorado,USA,theAtmospheric
EnvironmentServiceinCanada,andtheIllinoisStateWaterSurvey,USA.
Hehaswritten,editedorcontributedtoelevenotherbooksonsubjects
includingairpollution,appliedclimatologyandclimatesoftheSouthern
Hemisphere.Hehaspublishedmanyarticlesinthefield’sleadingjournals.
JOHN E. OLIVER waseducatedinEnglandandtheUnitedStates,obtaininghis
Ph.D.atColumbiaUniversity,whereheservedonthefaculty,beforejoining
IndianaStateUniversity.PriortohisappointmentasEmeritusProfessor,hewas
ProfessorofPhysicalGeographyandDirectoroftheUniversityClimate
LaboratoryatIndianaState.HealsoservedasDepartmentChairpersonand
AssociateDeanofArtsandSciences.
Hehaspublishedtwelvebooksandhisworkonappliedclimatologyand
historicclimateshasappearedinawiderangeofjournals.Hewasfounding
editor,withAntonyOrme,ofthejournalPhysicalGeography,forwhichuntil
recentlyheservedaseditorforclimatology.In1998hewasawardedthefirst
LifetimeAchievementAwardfromtheClimatologyGroupoftheAssociationof
AmericanGeographers.

The Global Climate System
Patterns, Processes, and Teleconnections
Howard A. Bridgman
School of Environmental and Life Sciences
University of Newcastle, Australia
John E. Oliver
Department of Geography, Geology and Anthropology
Indiana State University, USA
Withcontributionsfrom
MichaelGlantz,NationalCenterforAtmospheric
Research,USA
RandallCerveny,ArizonaStateUniversity,USA
RobertAllan,HadleyCentre,UK
PaulMausel,IndianaStateUniversity,USA
DengshengLu,IndianaUniversity,USA
NelsonDias,UniversidadedeTaubate´,Brazil
BrianGiles,UniversityofBirmingham,UK
GerdWendler,UniversityofAlaska,USA
GregoryZielinski,UniversityofMaine,USA
SueGrimmond,IndianaUniversity,USA
andKing’sCollegeLondon,UK
StanleyChangnon,UniversityofIllinois,USA
WilliamLau,NASAGoddardSpaceFlightCenter,USA
  
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge  , UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridg e.org /9780521826426
© H. Bridgman and J. Oliver 2006
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2006
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Contents
Listofcontributors pageviii
Preface xi
Listofabbreviations xiv
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Theclimatesystem 1
1.2 Patter ns, processe s, and telec onnecti ons 8
1.3 ESSAY:Problemclimatesorproblemsocieties?(Glantz) 10
1.4 Examplesofgeneralclimatewebsites 23
1.5 References 24
2 Oscillationsandteleconnections 25
2.1 Historyanddefinitions 25
2.2 TheNorthAtlanticOscillation(NAO) 29
2.3 TheNorthPacificOscillation(NPO)/PacificDecadal
Oscillation(PDO) 30
2.4 ThePacificNorthAmericanOscillation(PNA) 31
2.5 TheMadden–JulianOscillation(MJO) 33
2.6 TheQuasi-biennialOscillation(QBO) 34
2.7 TheArcticOscillation(AO)andtheAntarcticOscillation(AAO) 36
2.8 ESSAY:ENSOandrelatedteleconnections(Allan) 38
2.9 Examplesofoscillationsandteleconnectionswebsites 54
2.10 References 54
3 Tropicalclimates 59
3.1 Introduction 59
3.2 Theclimatecontrols 59
3.3 ESSAY:TheQuasi-biennialOscillationandtropicalclimate
variations(Cerveny) 67
3.4 Humanactivitiesandproblemclimatesinthetropics 74
3.5 ESSAY:RemotesensingofAmazoniadeforestationand
vegetationregrowth:inputstoclimatechangeresearch
(Mausel,LuandDias) 79
3.6 Chaptersummary 90
v
vi Contents
3.7 Examplesoftropicalclimateswebsites 91
3.8 References 91
4 Middle-latitudeclimates 96
4.1 Introduction 96
4.2 Dataavailability 96
4.3 ESSAY:Reanalysis(Giles) 97
4.4 Usingreanalysis 104
4.5 TheNorthernHemisphere 106
4.6 Mid-latitudecirculationandteleconnections
intheSouthernHemisphere 114
4.7 Chaptersummary 125
4.8 Examplesofmid-latitudewebsites 126
4.9 References 126
5 Climateofthepolarrealms 131
5.1 Introduction(Wendler) 131
5.2 ESSAY:Antarcticclimate(Wendler) 132
5.3 Upperaircirculationandwind 142
5.4 Surfacepressurevariations 143
5.5 Cyclogenesisandcyclonicity 146
5.6 AntarcticclimateandENSO 148
5.7 Polarnightjetandstratosphericozonedepletion 149
5.8 ESSAY:ArcticClimate(Wendler) 151
5.9 Arcticgeneralcirculation 161
5.10 Surfacepressureandwind 161
5.11 Extra-tropicalcyclones 163
5.12 Polarnightjetandstratosphericozonedepeletion 165
5.13 Concernsaboutfuturewarming 166
5.14 Chaptersummary 166
5.15 Examplesofpolarwebsites 167
5.16 References 168
6 Post-glacialclimaticchangeandvariability 171
6.1 Introduction 171
6.2 Determiningpastclimatethroughtheuseofproxies 172
6.3 ESSAY:Post-glacialclimatesintheNorthern
Hemisphere(Zielinski) 175
6.4 SouthernHemisphereclimatereconstructions 194
6.5 Chaptersummary 201
6.6 Examplesofpaleoclimatewebsites 202
6.7 References 202
Contents vii
7 Urbanimpactsonclimate 205
7.1 Introduction 205
7.2 Highlightsinthehistoryofurbanclimateresearch 207
7.3 ESSAY:Variabilityofurbanclimates(Grimmond) 210
7.4 Wind,cloudcover,andpressure 223
7.5 Urbancanyons 227
7.6 Moistureandprecipitation 230
7.7 Effectsofairpollution 232
7.8 RemotesensingandtheUHI 234
7.9 MitigationoftheUHI 238
7.10 Chaptersummary 239
7.11 Examplesofurbanwebsites 239
7.12 References 240
8 Humanresponsetoclimatechange 244
8.1 Introduction 244
8.2 TheVikingsettlementsinGreenland,AD800–1450 245
8.3 ClimatechangeandadaptationinEuropeduringtheLittleIceAge 250
8.4 ESSAY:EconomicimpactsofclimateconditionsintheUnited
States(Changnon) 260
8.5 Conclusions 275
8.6 Examplesofclimateandhistorywebsites 277
8.7 References 277
9 ESSAY:Modelinterpretationofclimatesignals:anapplication
toAsianmonsoonclimate(Lau) 281
9.1 Introduction 281
9.2 Aclimatemodelprimer 282
9.3 ModelingtheAsianmonsoonclimate 292
9.4 Futurechallenges 303
9.5 Acknowledgement 305
9.6 Examplesofclimatemodelingwebsites 305
9.7 References 305
10 Conclusionsandthefutureofclimateresearch 309
10.1 Introduction 309
10.2 Understandingtheglobalclimatesystem 311
10.3 Theimportanceofcommunication 318
10.4 References 320
Otherbooksonclimatologyandtheclimatesystem 321
Index 325
Thecolorplatesaresituatedbetweenpages170and171
Contributors
Michael Glantz is a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric
Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA, and is an expert on climate change
impactsonsocietyandlifestyle.
Robert Allan is a senior scientist at the Hadley Centre, Met Office, United
Kingdom, and is an expert on E1 Nin˜o–Southern Oscillation, its telecon-
nectionsanditsclimateimpacts.
Randall Cerveny is a Professor in Geography at Arizona State University,
Phoenix, Arizona, USA, and is an expert on tropical circulations and
climatesofSouthAmerica.
Paul Mausel is a Professor at Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana,
USA,andisanexpertonremotesensing,andinterpretationsofbiospheric
andatmosphericchangesfromsatellitedata.
DengshengLuisaresearchscientistintheCenterfortheStudyofInstitutions,
Population, and Environmental Change at Indiana University and is an
expertinremotesensing.
NelsonDiasisaresearchassociateattheUniversidadedeTaubate´inBrazil,and
researches changes to the Amazon rainforest using remote sensing
techniques.
Brian Giles is a retired Professor from the School of Geography, Geology
andEnvironmentalSciencesattheUniversityofBirmingham,UK,andis
an expert on synoptic meteorology and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis. He
currentlylivesinTakapuna,NewZealand.
Gerd Wendler is a Professor and Director of the Arctic Research Institute at
the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, and is an expert on
synopticclimatologyoftheArcticandAntarcticregions.
Gregory Zielinski is a scientist at the Institute for Quaternary and Climate
StudiesattheUniversityofMaine,Orono,Maine,USA,andisanexperton
Holocenepaleoclimatesandproxyinterpretationsofclimatechange.
viii