Impact of Atlantic multidecadal oscillations on India/Sahel rainfall and Atlantic hurricanes
Abstract
Prominent multidecadal fluctuations of India summer rainfall, Sahel summer rainfall, and Atlantic Hurricane activity have been observed during the 20th century. Understanding their mechanism(s) will have enormous social and economic implications. We first use statistical analyses to show that these climate phenomena are coherently linked. Next, we use the GFDL CM2.1 climate model to show that the multidecadal variability in the Atlantic ocean can cause the observed multidecadal variations of India summer rainfall, Sahel summer rainfall and Atlantic Hurricane activity (as inferred from vertical wind shear changes). These results suggest that to interpret recent climate change we cannot ignore the important role of Atlantic multidecadal variability.
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The Atlantic multidecadal oscillation can cause the observed multidecadal variations of Sahel summer rainfall.
“Zhang and Delworth (2006) have pointed out that the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation, which was in its negative phase in the 1980s-90s, can cause the observed multidecadal variations of Sahel summer rainfall”
From Tropical Atlantic variability modes (1979-2002). Part I: Time-evolving SST modes related to West African rainfall (2008) · cites this paper as Zhang and Delworth (2006)
Atlantic Multidecadal Variability modulates Sahel rainfall through its control of the Atlantic ITCZ.
“Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV; Kerr, 2000) modulates Sahel rainfall through its control of the Atlantic ITCZ (Knight et al., 2006;Zhang and Delworth, 2006;Mohino et al., 2011;Dieppois et al., 2015).”
From The tropical atlantic observing system (2019) · cites this paper as Zhang and Delworth, 2006
The AMOC and STCs are basin-wide and regional circulations that are influenced by and interact with the circulation in the tropical Atlantic and affect tropical Atlantic climate and extreme weather.
“The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and subtropical cells (STCs) are examples of basin-wide and regional circulations, respectively, that are influenced by and interact with the circulation in the tropical Atlantic and affect tropical Atlantic climate and extreme weather (Zhang et al., 2003;Knight et al., 2005;Zhang and Delworth, 2006).”
From The tropical atlantic observing system (2019) · cites this paper as Zhang and Delworth, 2006
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- Authors
- Zhang, R., & Delworth, T. L.
- Affiliations
- NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (US)
- Venue
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 2006-09
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 17
- ISSN
- 0094-8276 (ISSN-L)
- 1944-8007
- OpenAlex
- W2118629187
- Cited by
- 939
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 30 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 48 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 59 · 2021: 58 · 2020: 69 · 2019: 62 · 2018: 60 · 2017: 56 · 2016: 55 · 2015: 59 · 2014: 51 · 2013: 70 · 2012: 49
- FWCI
- 20.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Geophysical Research Letters (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate variability and models
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Atmospheric aerosols and clouds
- Keywords
- Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, Atlantic hurricanes, multidecadal climate variability, vertical wind shear, Indian monsoon, Sahel climate, Atlantic climate
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