“Great Salinity Anomalies” in a coupled climate model

Abstract

Several “Great Salinity Anomalies” have been observed to propagate around the North Atlantic sub‐polar gyre over the past 40 years. These could be a response to global warming, or part of the natural variability of the climate system. Here, we find “Great Salinity Anomalies” in the HadCM3 coupled climate simulation of pre‐industrial climate, suggesting they are not a response to recent climatic change. In concurrence with observed events, the HadCM3 simulation produces events which originate in both the Greenland and Labrador Seas.