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Science 29 January 1988:
Vol. 239. no. 4839, pp. 504 - 507
DOI: 10.1126/science.239.4839.504
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Articles

The Effect of Eurasian Snow Cover on Global Climate

T. P. BARNETT 1, L. DÜMENIL 2, U. SCHLESE 2, and E. ROECKNER 2

1 Climate Research Group, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92093.
2 Meteorologisches Institüt, University of Hamburg, Bundestrasse 55, 2000 Hamburg 13, West Germany.

Numerical simulations with a global atmospheric circulation model suggest that largescale variations in the amount of snowfall over Eurasia in the springtime are linked to the subsequent strength of the Asian summer monsoon. Large-scale changes in Eurasian snow cover are coupled to larger scale changes in the global climate system. There is a large, strong teleconnection to the atmospheric field over North America. The model results also show snow cover effects to subsequently alter other climatic fields known to be intimately associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. Thus the model results seem to challenge the current dogma that the ENSO phenomenon is solely the result of close coupling between the atmosphere and ocean by suggesting that processes over continental land masses may also have to be considered.

Submitted on September 8, 1987
Accepted on December 14, 1987


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