El Niño: Historical and Paleoclimatic Aspects of the Southern Oscillation

by Edited by Henry F. Diaz , Vera Markgraf

• ISBN13: 9780521111614
• ISBN10: 0521111617
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-06-11
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon is a recurrent feature of the climate in tropical regions. A primary example of large scale coupled ocean-atmosphere interactions, ENSO has received much attention in past years, as a result of widespread climatic anomalies (severe drought and floods, Indian monsoon failure, etc.) that are often associated with the development of such episodes. To enhance our understanding of the mechanisms involved in the low frequency behavior of ENSO and to help improve our ability to forecast the future behavior of this phenomenon, we have combined analysis of the modern aspects of ENSO morphology, modelling and variability with chapters dealing with its historical and prehistorical behavior. this volume examines different approaches to reconstructing ENSO based on a variety of proxy sources. It also illustrates how, in the past, the climatic manifestations associated with ENSO may have been different, in the frequency of occurrence as well as amplitude. This book will be of importance to all professional scientists and researchers in climatology, meteorology and the earth and environmental sciences, while graduate students in these disciplines will find the book a useful reference source.

Table of Contents

Introduction

ENSO in the Modern Record

Atmospheric teleconnections associated with the extreme phase of the Southern Oscillation

El Nino/Southern Oscillation and streamflow in the western United States

Coupled climate model simulation of El Nino/Southern Oscillation: implications for paleoclimate

Use of Historical Records in ENSO Reconstructions

Historical and prehistorical overview of El Nino/Southern Oscillation

A study of Southern Oscillation-related climatic activity for A.D. 622-1990 incorporating Nile River flood data

Historical El Nino/Southern Oscillation variability in the Australasian region

A comparison of Southern Oscillation and El Nino signals in the tropics

Long-term changes in the frequency of occurrence of El Nino events

Paleoclimate Reconstructions of El Nino/Southern Oscillation from Tree-Ring Records

Using three rings to study past El Nino/Southern Oscillation influences on climate

An index of the Southern Oscillation reconstructed from western North American tree-ring chronologies

Spectral properties of tree-ring data in the United States Southwest as related to El Nino/Southern Oscillation

A tree-ring reconstruction of New Mexico winter precipitation and its relation to El Nino/Southern Oscillation events Roseanne

Temporal patterns of El Nino/Southern Oscillation - wildfire teleconnections in the southwestern United States

Secular variability of the Southern Oscillation detected in tree-ring data from Mexico and the southern United States

Records from Ice Cores and Corals

Reconstructing interannual climate variability from tropical and subtropical ice-core records

A comparison of proxy records of El Nino/Southern Oscillation

Coral monitors of El Nino/Southern Oscillation dynamics across the equatorial Pacific

Low-resolution Paleoclimate Reconstruction of El Nino/Southern Oscillation: Marine and Terrestrial Proxy Indicators

Fishery catch records, El Nino/Southern Oscillation, and longer-term climate change as inferred from fish remains in marine sediments

Long-term changes in El Nino/Southern Oscillation: evidence from marine and lacustrine sediments

El Nino/Southern Oscillation climatic variability in Australasian and South American paleoenvironmental records

Synthesis and future prospects

Index

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