The North Atlantic exhibits a high level of natural variability from interannual to centennial time scales, making it difficult to extract trends from observational time series. Climate models, however, predict major changes in this region, which in turn will influence sea level and climate, especially in western Europe and North America. In the last decade, several observational projects have been focused on the Atlantic circulation changes, for instance ACSIS, OSNAP, OVIDE, RACE and RAPID, and new projects have started such as CANARI and EPOC. Most of these programs include both observational and modelling components. Another important issue is the interaction between the atmosphere, the ocean and the cryosphere, and how this affects the climate.
We welcome contributions from observers and modellers on the following topics:
-- climate relevant processes in the North Atlantic region in the atmosphere, ocean, and cryosphere
-- variability in the ocean and the atmosphere in the North Atlantic sector on a broad range of time scales
-- interpretation of observed variability in the atmosphere and the ocean in the North Atlantic sector
-- response of the atmosphere to changes in the North Atlantic
-- dynamics of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation
-- role of water mass transformation and circulation changes on anthropogenic carbon and other parameters
-- changes in adjacent seas related to changes in the North Atlantic
-- atmosphere-ocean coupling in the North Atlantic realm on time scales from years to centuries (observations, theory and coupled GCMs)
-- comparison of observed and simulated climate variability in the North Atlantic sector and Europe
-- linkage between the observational records and proxies from the recent past