Is There a Role for Human-Induced Climate Change in the Precipitation Decline that Drove the California Drought?

Seager, R.; Henderson, N.; Cane, M. A.; Liu, H.; Nakamura, J.

doi:10.1175/jcli-d-17-0192.1

Advanced Search

Select up to three search categories and corresponding keywords using the fields to the right. Refer to the Help section for more detailed instructions.

Search our Collections & Repository

Advanced Search
Custom Query

All these words:

For very narrow results

This exact word or phrase:

When looking for a specific result

Any of these words:

Best used for discovery & interchangable words

None of these words:

Recommended to be used in conjunction with other fields

Language:

Dates

Publication Date Range:

to

Document Data

Title:

Document Type:

Library

Collection:

Series:

People

Author:

Clear All

Query Builder

Query box

Clear All

For additional assistance using the Custom Query please check out our Help Page

i

Is There a Role for Human-Induced Climate Change in the Precipitation Decline that Drove the California Drought?

2017
By Seager, R. ; Henderson, N. ; Cane, M. A. ; ...
Source: Journal of Climate, 30(24), 10237-10258

[PDF-18.79 MB]

Select the Download button to view the document

This document is over 5mb in size and cannot be previewed

Details You May Also Like

Details:

Journal Title:

Journal of Climate
Personal Author:

Seager, R. ; Henderson, N. ; Cane, M. A. ; Liu, H. ; Nakamura, J.

Seager, R. ; Henderson, N. ; Cane, M. A. ; Liu, H. ; Nakamura, J. Less -
NOAA Program & Office:

OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; NOS (National Ocean Service) ; NCCOS (National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science)

OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; NOS (National Ocean Service) ; NCCOS (National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science) Less -
Description:

The recent California drought was associated with a persistent ridge at the west coast of North America that has been associated with, in part, forcing from warm SST anomalies in the tropical west Pacific. Here it is considered whether there is a role for human-induced climate change in favoring such a west coast ridge. The models from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project do not support such a case either in terms of a shift in the mean circulation or in variance that would favor increased intensity or frequency of ridges. The models also do not support shifts toward a drier mean climate or more frequent or intense dry winters or to tropical SST states that would favor west coast ridges. However, reanalyses do show that over the last century there has been a trend toward circulation anomalies over the Pacific–North American domain akin to those during the height of the California drought. The trend has been associated with a trend toward preferential warming of the Indo–west Pacific, an arrangement of tropical oceans and Pacific–North American circulation similar to that during winter 2013/14, the driest winter of the California drought. These height trends, however, are not reproduced in SST-forced atmosphere model ensembles. In contrast, idealized atmosphere modeling suggests that increased tropical Indo-Pacific zonal SST gradients are optimal for forcing height trends that favor a west coast ridge. These results allow a tenuous case for human-driven climate change driving increased gradients and favoring the west coast ridge, but observational data are not sufficiently accurate to confirm or reject this case.
Keywords:

[+]

Droughts Ocean-atmosphere Interactions Climate Variability Teleconnections
Source:

Journal of Climate, 30(24), 10237-10258
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1175/jcli-d-17-0192.1
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

Grant no. NA10OAR4310232
Rights Information:

Other
Compliance:

CHORUS
Main Document Checksum:

[+]

urn:sha256:2b8b4621991789edc9f0df53aaf24190df7a46bf3e4e368d65b4618834e5151d
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/48389/noaa_48389_DS1.pdf
File Type:

No Additional Files

More +

Is There a Role for Human-Induced Climate Change in the Precipitation Decline that Drove the California Drought?

Details:

Supporting Files

You May Also Like