El Niño Historical and Paleoclimatic Aspects of the Southern Oscillation

About this book

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.

First published in 1993.

Contents

1. Introduction Henry F. Diaz and Vera Markgraf; Part I. ENSO in the Modern Record: 2. Atmospheric teleconnections associated with the extreme phase of the Southern Oscillation Henry F. Diaz and George N. Kiladis; 3. El Nino/Southern Oscillation and streamflow in the western United States Daniel R. Cayan and Robert H. Webb; 4. Coupled climate model simulation of El Nino/Southern Oscillation: implications for paleoclimate Gerald A. Meehl and Grant W. Branstator; Part II. Use of Historical Records in ENSO Reconstructions: 5. Historical and prehistorical overview of El Nino/Southern Oscillation David B. Enfield; 6. A study of Southern Oscillation-related climatic activity for A.D. 622-1990 incorporating Nile River flood data William H. Quinn; 7. Historical El Nino/Southern Oscillation variability in the Australasian region Neville Nicholls; 8. A comparison of Southern Oscillation and El Nino signals in the tropics Henry F. Diaz and Roger S. Pulwarty; 9. Long-term changes in the frequency of occurrence of El Nino events Roger Y. Anderson; Part III. Paleoclimate Reconstructions of El Nino/Southern Oscillation from Tree-Ring Records: 10. Using tree rings to study past El Nino/Southern Oscillation influences on climate Edward R. Cook; 11. An index of the Southern Oscillation reconstructed from western North American tree-ring chronologies J. M. Lough; 12. Spectral properties of tree-ring data in the United States Southwest as related to El Nino/Southern Oscillation David M. Meko; 13. A tree-ring reconstruction of New Mexico winter precipitation and its relation to El Nino/Southern Oscillation events Roseanne D. D'arrigo and Gordon C. Jacoby; 14. Temporal patterns of El Nino/Southern Oscillation - wildfire teleconnections in the southwestern United States Thomas W. Swetnam and Julio L. Betancourt; 15. Secular variability of the Southern Oscillation detected in tree-ring data from Mexico and the southern United States Malcolm K. Cleaveland, Edward R. Cooke and David W. Stahle; Part IV. Records from Ice Cores and Corals: 16. Reconstructing interannual climate variability from tropical and subtropical ice-core records L. G. Thompson, E. Mosley-Thompson and P. A. Thompson; 17. A comparison of proxy records of El Nino/Southern Oscillation Joel Michaelsen and L. G. Thompson; 18. Coral monitors of El Nino/Southern Oscillation dynamics across the equatorial Pacific Julia E. Cole, Glen T. Shen, Richard G. Fairbanks and Michael Moore; Part V. Low-resolution Paleoclimate Reconstruction of El Nino/Southern Oscillation: Marine and Terrestrial Proxy Indicators: 19. Fishery catch records, El Nino/Southern Oscillation, and longer-term climate change as inferred from fish remains in marine sediments Gary D. Sharp; 20. Long-term changes in El Nino/Southern Oscillation: evidence from marine and lacustrine sediments Roger Y. Anderson, Andy Soutar and Thomas C. Johnson; 21. El Nino/Southern Oscillation climatic variability in Australasian and South American paleoenvironmental records M. S. McGlone, A. P. Kershaw and Vera Markgraf; 22. Synthesis and future prospects Henry F. Diaz, Vera Markgraf and Malcolm K. Hughes; Index.

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