Theme 3: Atmosphere, Oceans and Climate

Theme 3 is led by Professor Sandy Tudhope, Professor of Climate Studies, University of Edinburgh and Dr Mark Inall, Head of Physics, Sea Ice and Technology, Scottish Association for Marine Science.

Members of SAGES Theme 3 and their research interests can be found here

SAGES Theme 3 is exploring three overarching questions: (i) What are the mechanisms and drivers of abrupt regional and global climate change? (ii) In the context of future global climate change, how can we predict the manifestations and impacts of such change at regional level? (iii) What is the climatological and environmental significance of variability in transport of warm and saline Atlantic Water to NW Europe and Scandinavia?

This theme brings together Scotland’s leading scientists who study palaeoclimate reconstruction with those who study and model the dynamics of the present ocean and atmosphere. Our aim is to help predict future climate change driven by changes in the atmosphere-ocean system. The Earth’s sensitivity to change is recorded in past climates, observed primarily from ice-sheet and ocean sediment cores across the globe. We will develop high-resolution models simulating past climate changes as a means of determining the nature, mechanisms and drivers of rapid climate change.

The research focuses on the regional implications of climate change, for example flood risk and atmospheric dynamics. A major part of the research addresses the North Atlantic ocean currents and their importance in the global climate system. For example, the mechanisms and environmental significance of changes in the transport of warm saline Atlantic Water to North West Europe is effectively evaluated by reconstructing periods of variability and complete shutdown which occurred in the past.

The bringing together of ocean-atmosphere modellers and palaeo-climatologists will open up new horizons. The modellers will pose new questions for the palaeo-climatologists while, in return, records of climate change from the past will improve the models and their predictive capacity.

You can download the Theme 3 Presentation from the SAGES Launch (May 07) and from the First SAGES Annual Symposium (Sept 08) by following the links in the pictures below