While the new research didn't answer what led to
the particular atmospheric patterns associated with extreme temperatures, Horton hopes that they can use the same approach from the study to try to figure that out.
Not exact matches
That study, also detailed in Geophysical Research Letters, suggests that while the Pacific heat set the
atmospheric pattern in motion, Arctic sea ice loss in a
particular region made the warm / cold difference so extreme, said Jennifer Francis of Rutgers University.
When we talk about climate change, we're talking about the scientifically observable — and increasingly severe — changes in global climate
patterns that became apparent in the mid-to-late twentieth century and can be attributed to the rising levels of
atmospheric greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, in
particular) produced by human activities like burning fossil fuels.
Francis, who wasn't involved with either study, is one of the main proponents of an idea that by altering how much heat the ocean lets out, sea ice melt and Arctic warming can also change
atmospheric circulation
patterns, in
particular by making the jet stream form larger peaks, or highs, and troughs, or lows.
This Section places
particular emphasis on current knowledge of past changes in key climate variables: temperature, precipitation and
atmospheric moisture, snow cover, extent of land and sea ice, sea level,
patterns in
atmospheric and oceanic circulation, extreme weather and climate events, and overall features of the climate variability.
Modes or
patterns of climate variability - Natural variability of the climate system, in
particular on seasonal and longer time scales, predominantly occurs with preferred spatial
patterns and time scales, through the dynamical characteristics of the
atmospheric circulation and through interactions with the land and ocean surfaces.