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North Atlantic Oscillation
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The OzoneAction Education Pack provides primary school teachers with practical, hands-on and entertaining curricula material to educate their students about ozone depletion.
The Youth Climate Pledge is a collaborative plan of action that young people can sign on to and get others to commit to.
The Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership is an action and advisory group that aims to take a lead in accelerating the shift to low carbon vehicles and fuels in the United Kingdom.
The Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands (LADA) project provides access to documents, data, photos, maps and other resources concerning this critical issue.
And finally,
Children from Uganda, Bangladesh and Mozambique have drawn pictures for Oxfam of their impression of climate change (video) and what it means to their lives.
About the Portal
The Tiempo Climate Portal provides access to carefully selected documents, websites and other resources concerned with climate and sustainable development. It is edited by Mick Kelly and Sarah Granich and maintained by Mick Kelly and Mike Salmon.
Part of the Tiempo Climate Cyberlibrary, Tiempo Climate Newswatch is hosted by the Climatic Research Unit, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia.
The Tiempo Climate Cyberlibrary is a co-production of the Stockholm Environment Institute and the International Institute for Environment and Development, sponsored by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
While every effort is made to ensure that information on this site, and on other sites that are referenced here, is accurate, no liability for loss or damage resulting from use of this information can be accepted.
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Winter values of the North
Atlantic Oscillation Index based on the
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The North Atlantic Oscillation is a major disturbance of the atmospheric circulation and climate of the North Atlantic-European region, linked to a waxing and waning of the dominant middle-latitude westerly wind flow during winter.
The North Atlantic Oscillation Index is based on the pressure difference between various stations to the north (Iceland) and south (Azores) of the middle latitude westerly flow. It is, therefore, a measure of the strength of these winds. Strictly, it should only be used for the winter period.
Discussion
When the North Atlantic Oscillation Index is positive, the westerly flow across the North Atlantic and western Europe is enhanced, along with the Iceland Low and the Azores High. During the winter half-year, the strengthened westerly winds bring warmer, maritime air over northwest Europe causing a rise in temperature. At the same time, enhanced northerly flow over the northeast Atlantic results in a drop in temperatures over the area.
When the Index is low, the opposite occurs with temperatures falling over northwest Europe and rising over northwest Atlantic.
The net result is a "sea-saw" in temperatures across the North Atlantic-European sector, as well as changes in other climate variables such as precipitation and sea-ice extent.
The North Atlantic Oscillation exerts a strong influence on year-to-year climate variability and there is evidence of longer-term trends in this phenomenon. It is related to the shorter-term shift between zonal and meridional circulation types that occurs on the day-to-day timescale and is known as the "index cycle".
Data availability
The North Atlantic Oscillation Index can be downloaded for the period since 1821 and a regular monthly update is available.
On the Web
An information sheet on the North Atlantic Oscillation is available.
Acknowledgements
The North Atlantic Oscillation Index is maintained by Phil Jones, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia.
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