3 ms·
My best guess is some natural cycle tied to the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_multidecadal_oscillation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_multideca
by btilly 6y ago
My best guess is some natural cycle tied to the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_multidecadal_oscillation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_multidecadal_oscillat... is involved. You'll note that the 1960s correspond to the point where the Atlantic was cooling most rapidly, which would be suggestive that the air above the Atlantic was relatively cold at that time.
That said I'm not a climatologist, nor do I play on on TV.
- counters 6y agoIt's worth pointing out that there likely is no such thing as the AMO. The scientist who coined the term in some pioneering work in 2000 has, over the past few years, been extremely outspoken that it was probably an errant interpretation of the data available at the time (e.g. https://michaelmann.net/content/rise-and-fall-atlantic-multidecadal-oscillation https://michaelmann.net/content/rise-and-fall-atlantic-multi...) and even just a year ago published an article in Nature which more or less thoroughly eliminates the possibility of such a mode of multi-decadal variability actually existing (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-13823-w https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-13823-w).
- btilly 6y agoWhether or not the variation is a predictable cycle notwithstanding, there is a substantial natural variation, and the 1960s coincided with a drop in Atlantic sea temperatures of the right order of magnitude. Which suggests that natural variation could have caused the 1960s to be unusually cool relative to overall warming trends.