The atmospheric circulation associated with this dipole pattern is known
as the Walker circulation.
The atmospheric circulation associated with this dipole pattern is known
as the Walker circulation.
Our paper goes on to show that this is primarily a result of the reduced strength of stationary - eddy overturning circulations, such
as the Walker circulation.
What began
as the Walker Circulation and then evolved into El Nino and the Southern Oscillation to become ENSO, became the explanation for every weather pattern or event.
Not exact matches
The UM Rosenstiel School researchers used historical observations of cloud cover
as a proxy for wind velocity in climate models to analyze the
Walker circulation, the atmospheric air flow and heat distribution in the tropic Pacific region that affects patterns of tropical rainfall.
Some ENSO experts, such
as Mark Cane, points out that the upwelling impact on SST in the East implies that in the transient warming, the warming might happen faster in the West than the East thus strengthening the
Walker circulation — some of the supposed volcanic - El Niño connections would support that.
The eastward shift in the
Walker Circulation means the normal area of rising air and rainy weather is shifted eastward
as well, leaving the Indonesian area high and dry during much of the year.
Warhol, Heinecken, Prince, and Levine have appropriated source imagery that is readily recognizable
as not being originally authored by the artist — studio portraits of Marilyn Monroe, pages from women's magazines, Marlboro ads, or
Walker Evans's photography — to highlight the mass reproduction and
circulation of such imagery within popular culture.
There are several explanations
as to why there are fluctuations in the
Walker circulations / trade winds, and the ocean currents.
Some ENSO experts, such
as Mark Cane, points out that the upwelling impact on SST in the East implies that in the transient warming, the warming might happen faster in the West than the East thus strengthening the
Walker circulation — some of the supposed volcanic - El Niño connections would support that.
It is important not to confuse the
Walker Circulation with the Hadley
Circulation (also known
as the «Hadley Cell»), which also involves deep convection in the tropics.
Hurricanes do have a deep surface mixing effect that normal tropical convection doesn't produce, and that would be expected to result in greater transfer of heat to the atmosphere, but it gets complicated in a hurry; see the realclimate discussion of the
Walker circulation for example,
as well
as the link between hurricanes and sea surface temps.
What interests me is the fact that although these findings about the
Walker Circulation and the Wind Shear may be prove true (
as only time will tell) how does this effect the «track» of Hurricanes.
So even though El Nià ± o may serve
as an analogue for some aspects of the influence of the weakening
Walker circulation on climate, it does not serve
as a dynamical analogue nor is the sensitivity to model details the same.
They do address the issue: «the extent to which El Nino serves
as a useful analogue for the mechanisms behind the projected shear changes should be further examined» and they also note that Atlantic wind shear is infueneced by other factors besides the
Walker circulation.
However, the Trade Winds are primarily caused by the Hadley
circulation, and are only modulated by the
Walker circulation, so it is more precise to think of this result
as indicating a change in strength of the
Walker circulation.
On the other hand, there is no reason to believe that the
Walker circulation should change smoothly
as a function of climate forcings; perhaps the potential for change builds up over many years, and manifests itself all of a sudden, in the fashion of an avalanche.
Slowing such overturning by reducing the horizontal differential heating could tend to allow heat to build up at lower levels until the lapse rate is more favorable to localized vertical overturning (LVO)(The two forms of overturning are not always completely distinct or separate; for example, the Hadley cell,
Walker, and monsoon
circulations,
as well
as extratropical storm track activity (developing from baroclinic instability (Rossby wave phenomena)-RRB- are driven and organized in part by horizontal differential heating, but in the ascending portions of these
circulations, cumulus - type convection can occur).
In a paper that recently appeared in Nature, Vecchi, Soden, Wittenberg, Held, Leetmaa and Harrison present intriguing new results which suggest that there has already been a weakening of the
Walker circulation in the past century, and that the observed changes are consistent with those expected
as a response to increases in anthropogenic greenhouse gases.
The corresponding intensification of the atmospheric
Walker circulation is also associated with sea surface cooling in the eastern Pacific, which has been identified
as one of the contributors to the current pause in global surface warming.
In fact, Cane et al (1997) argue that the tendency toward increased SST gradient is precisely what is seen if one uses a robust trend analysis to decrease sensitivity of the trend analysis to outliers such
as the very large 1982/1983 El Nino event (this event, and the equally large 1997/1998 El Nino event, greatly influence the estimate of a weakening trend of the
Walker circulation in Vecchi et al).
Wang and his colleagues, however, found that over the past 30 years, the summer monsoon
circulation,
as well
as the Hadley and
Walker circulations, have all substantially intensified.
Two wind patterns in the Indian Ocean, known
as the Hadley
circulation and the
Walker circulation, interact with the Indo - Pacific warm pool to drive sea level changes.
When the
Walker circulation weakens or reverses, an El Niño results, causing the ocean surface to be warmer than average,
as upwelling of cold water occurs less or not at all.
The researchers» simulations showed that
as temperatures increase in the future, the
Walker circulation, on average, brings more high pressure over India, even though the occurrence of El Niño doesn't increase.
I expect
Walker Circulation changed then
as well.
At the scales of the
Walker circulation and quasi-permanent features such
as Hadley cells and the Azore high, however, this mechanism must be negligible.
This is seen observationally and in models
as a weakening of the zonal
circulation (
Walker) in the tropics, and to a lesser extent, in the meridional (Hadley) since the rate of exchange of water parcels between the boundary layer and free atmosphere goes down.
Many of these
circulation patterns are thought to be driven by geographical features, such
as the strong heating near the tropics nd over parts of the ocean basin, such
as the
Walker cell (see here).
Also, there has likely been an increase in subsidence over the tropical Atlantic due to an eastward shift of the
Walker Circulation as waters have continued to warm in the central and eastern Pacific.
Although have seen a trend towards El Niño dominance and a weakening of the
Walker circulation, there is still controversy
as to the effect of global warming on ENSO processes.