Atmospheric Modes of Variability in a Changing Climate

The response of the atmospheric circulation to an enhanced radiative greenhouse gas forcing in a transient integration with a coupled global climate model is investigated. The spatial patterns of the leading modes of Northern Hemisphere atmospheric variability are shown to change in response to the enhanced forcing. An earlier study showed that the spatial patterns of the leading modes in the Southern Hemisphere changed in response to the enhanced forcing. These changes were associated with changes in the propagation conditions for barotropic Rossby waves. This is, however, not the case for the Northern Hemisphere, where the propagation conditions are unchanged. Other possible mechanisms for the changes in the spatial patterns of the leading modes are discussed.