Geography Atlas

Where Everything Happened
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Physical Process

Arctic Oscillation

Atmospheric and Climatic Processes

A large-scale pattern of atmospheric pressure variability between the Arctic and the mid-latitudes, alternating between a positive phase with a stronger polar vortex and jet stream and a negative phase in which cold Arctic air more readily spills into the mid-latitudes. Its phase strongly influences winter weather severity across North America, Europe and Asia.

Facts
Partially Attested
First Proposed Year
1998 1
Source says the seesaw was first identified by Edward Lorenz (no year) and named in 1998 by Thompson and Wallace; 1998 is the naming year only.
Process Type
Climatic 1
Timescale
Fluctuates on daily, monthly, seasonal and annual time scales 1
Connections

Associated With

Demonstrated By

The Arctic, Regions
Sources
1. Arctic oscillation - Wikipedia
  • Intro, sentence 1
    It is an important mode of climate variability for the Northern Hemisphere.
  • Periodicity
    fluctuates stochastically between negative and positive values on daily, monthly, seasonal and annual time scales
  • Periodicity, last paragraph
    first identified by Edward Lorenz and named in 1998 by David W.J. Thompson and John Michael Wallace
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.