Contrasting the Global Connections of Internal versus Forced Atlantic Multidecadal Variability
The Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV) is a prominent mode of low-frequency variability of the climate system and features basin-wide sea surface temperature (SST) variations in the North Atlantic with global connections. AMV can be either internally generated through coupled ocean-atmosphere dynamics or externally forced by anthropogenic radiative forcing. Whether the internal and the forced AMVs are associated with distinctive global climate patterns is unclear. To answer this question, we analyze large-ensemble climate simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6), with a particular focus on the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) version 2 and the Community Earth System Model (CESM) version 2. We find that although the internal and the forced AMVs share some similarities in the spatial structure, their differences are prominent both within and outside the Atlantic. Those distinctive patterns of the internal and the forced AMVs directly shed light on their driving mechanisms and teleconnections from/to other ocean basins. We further show that these general conclusions hold regardless of how the AMV is defined (e.g., linearly detrended or global residual) but the detailed patterns may differ. Implications for the interpretation of the observed AMV, wherein its internal and forced co-exist, will be discussed.