The Role of Aerosols in the Evolution of Tropical North Atlantic Ocean Temperature Anomalies
- 8 May 2009
- journal article
- other
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 324 (5928) , 778-781
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1167404
Abstract
Dust in the Wind: The temperature of North Atlantic surface waters has a major effect on climate in a variety of ways, not least because its heat content helps to control hurricane formation and strength. The North Atlantic surface has warmed considerably in recent decades, a trend generally associated with global or regional air temperature increases, or with changes in ocean circulation. Evan et al. (p. 778 , published online 26 March) use nearly 30 years of satellite data to examine another source of ocean temperature variability, the radiative effects of atmospheric aerosols. Low frequency changes in local tropical North Atlantic surface temperatures seem mostly to be caused by variability in mineral and stratospheric aerosol abundances. Thus, to provide more accurate projections of these temperatures, general circulation models will need to account for long-term changes in dust loadings.Keywords
This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- Trends in Saharan dust and tropical Atlantic climate during 1980–2006Geophysical Research Letters, 2008
- Ocean temperature forcing by aerosols across the Atlantic tropical cyclone development regionGeochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 2008
- Long‐term variability in Saharan dust transport and its link to North Atlantic sea surface temperatureGeophysical Research Letters, 2008
- Temporal controls on global dust emissions: The role of surface gustinessGeophysical Research Letters, 2007
- Unusually warm sea surface temperatures in the tropical North Atlantic during 2005Geophysical Research Letters, 2006
- Forced and unforced ocean temperature changes in Atlantic and Pacific tropical cyclogenesis regionsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2006
- A less dusty future?Geophysical Research Letters, 2003
- Global analyses of sea surface temperature, sea ice, and night marine air temperature since the late nineteenth centuryJournal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2003
- Characterization of tropospheric aerosols over the oceans with the NOAA advanced very high resolution radiometer optical thickness operational productJournal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 1997
- Development, validation, and potential enhancements to the second‐generation operational aerosol product at the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationJournal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 1997