Scientists find new driver for tropical Atlantic climate

Multiple factors can affect the tropical Atlantic climate. Credit: NOAA

Tropical Atlantic climate can be characterized by three systems: the temperature of the ocean’s surface, rainfall in the African Sahel region, and hurricane activity. Greenhouse gases, aerosols, and natural radiation can modify the climate as well, and the complicated relationships between all these factors have been difficult to observe and represent in models. A recent Nature paper supported by the Climate Program Office’s Climate Variability & Predictability (CVP) Program determined how these processes interact to influence tropical Atlantic climate variability. This research, led by CVP-supported scientists Chengfei He, Amy Clements, and Mark Cane, contributes to a CVP initiative to improve in skillful prediction systems on decadal timescales for both ocean and atmosphere climate systems.