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Present-Day Climate Variability in the Tropical Atlantic

A Model for Paleoclimate Changes?

  • Chapter
The Hadley Circulation: Present, Past and Future

Part of the book series: Advances in Global Change Research ((AGLO,volume 21))

Abstract

Paleoproxy records of the Holocene and last glacial period suggest that the meridional position of the Atlantic Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and hence the thermally direct circulation in that region changed significantly in the past, a behavior similar to that of a leading mode of interannual-decadal climate variability in the present-day tropical Atlantic. This chapter explores how knowledge of this mode of variability may be usefully employed to advance hypotheses for understanding tropical Atlantic paleoclimate change. A review of past coupled general circulation model (CGCM) studies reveals that change to the Atlantic ITCZ meridional position is pervasive in two situations of paleoclimate interest; namely, modification of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation, and adjustment to last glacial maximum (LGM) boundary conditions. Comparison of atmosphere-ocean general circulation model LGM simulations from the Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project (PMIP) shows, however, that the magnitude of the latter adjustment is model dependent. Accurate paleoproxy records of tropical Atlantic climate may therefore be able to provide crucial constraints on acceptable coupled model behavior.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Berkeley Atmospheric Sciences Center, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720-4740, USA

    John C. H. Chiang

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  1. John C. H. Chiang
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Climate Diagnostics Center, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, NOAA, Boulder, CO, USA

    Henry F. Diaz

  2. Climate System Research Center, Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA

    Raymond S. Bradley

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© 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Chiang, J.C.H. (2004). Present-Day Climate Variability in the Tropical Atlantic. In: Diaz, H.F., Bradley, R.S. (eds) The Hadley Circulation: Present, Past and Future. Advances in Global Change Research, vol 21. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2944-8_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2944-8_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-6752-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-2944-8

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