Climate Projections and Surprises

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Climate Projections and Surprises

• Current Weather and News
• Finish Climate Projections
• Abrupt Climate Changes
• Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
• Other Examples
• For Next Class Read Ch. 14

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Abrupt Climate Changes

• Theory, models, and paleoclimatic reconstructions
  have shown that changes in the climate system can
  be abrupt and widespread.
• Abrupt climate change . . . occurs when the
  climate system is forced to cross some threshold,
  triggering a transition to a new state . . .
  (Alley et al. 2002)
• Climate surprises often used to refer to these
  abrupt transitions

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Responses of a Climate Variable to Forcing
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Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

• Best-documented type of abrupt climate change in
  paleoclimatic archives is associated with changes
  in oceanic circulation, especially in the North
  Atlantic
• Also referred to as Thermohaline Circulation.

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Colder, Saltier Water Sinks in North Atlantic,
driving the Thermohaline Circulation
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• http//www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid83339tid3622cid
  10046

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Abrupt Climate Change Site from Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institute

• http//www.whoi.edu/main/topic/abrupt-climate-chan
  ge

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