Conductors of the Current Variations of the Sea-Surface Temperature of the North Atlantic

Abstract

It is generally accepted that changes in the heat content of the North Atlantic can be a source of some surprises in the present-day climate evolution, especially in Europe. The RAPID program, which monitors this heat content, is used to investigate this problem. However, the results of such monitoring are too short-term for any conclusion. Therefore, we use wavelets to analyze variations in the mean sea surface temperature in the North Atlantic as an indirect characteristic of the heat content. These variations have already been observed for quite a long time period (from the mid-20th century). Three scales, which define the temporal variability of this characteristic, have been found: 2–4, 7–10, and ~22 years. It is assumed that the sources of variations of the first two scales above are wobbles in the Earth’s rotation axis, and the source of variations of the third scale is Hale’s heliomagnetic activity cycle.