RAPIDWATCHMOCHA Observations of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

RAPID-WATCH/MOCHA Observations of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation Dr Stuart A. Cunningham Scottish Association of Marine Science & Marine Alliance for Science & Technology Scotland Why are observations of the AMOC important and what do they tell us about climate? THOR 2 nd End‐User Workshop Decadal Climate Predictions and the RAPID‐WATCH Programme London 24 th Oct 2012

What is Climate?

Energy Transport in the Atlantic 3

Energy Transport in the Atlantic Zonally averaged annual mean surface air temperature anomaly 4 Rahmstorf & Ganapolski 1999

Observing the Atlantic Circulation RAPID-WATCH/MOCHA: A Purposefully Designed Array for Sustained Observations of the Meridional Overturning Circulation and Heat Flux http: //www. noc. soton. ac. uk/rapidmoc/

Vigour of the Atlantic Circulation

… and the climatologically more relevant energy transport

30% decline in annual mean circulation and heat flux

Data from the Global Argo Network of Floats

Temperature Anomalies

2010 The Year Britain Froze December 2010 : Gatwick

The North Atlantic Oscillation

Is the Atlantic Circulation Slowing? RAPID

Why are observations of the AMOC important and what do they tell us about climate? RAPID 1. 2. 3. 4. Argo Network Verify the output and physics of coupled climate models. Baseline against which future change may be measured. Fundamental insights into ocean physics. Sustained observing to quantify the changing climate system and to interpret this variability in the widest context.