Global Climate network evolves with North Atlantic Oscillation phases: Coupling to Southern Pacific Ocean

TL;DR

This study constructs a climate network from global temperature data, revealing its correlation with the North Atlantic Oscillation and its coupling with the Southern Pacific Ocean, suggesting physical teleconnections.

Contribution

It introduces a novel climate network analysis linking NAO phases to remote oceanic regions, providing insights into teleconnection mechanisms.

Findings

Network correlates with NAO locally and remotely.

Tele-connection links are stable over time.

Suggests physical basis for climate teleconnections.

Abstract

We construct a network from climate records of atmospheric temperature at surface level, at different geographical sites in the globe, using reanalysis data from years 1948-2010. We find that the network correlates with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), both locally in the north Atlantic, and through coupling to the southern Pacific Ocean. The existence of tele-connection links between those areas and their stability over time allows us to suggest a possible physical explanation for this phenomenon.