Introduction to special section on The role of the Atlantic warm pool in the climate of the Western Hemisphere

Abstract

[1] All the contributors to this special section discuss observational studies of the influence of the Atlantic Warm Pool (AWP) on the Earth’s climate, and investigate the reproducibility of these results in atmospheric models, by examining the influence of the AWP using coupled ocean– atmosphere–land models, and by exploring the effect of the AWP on the climate and on the occurrence of hurricanes under different scenarios of global warming. [2] The Atlantic warm pool (AWP) is a large body of warm water that comprises the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the western tropical North Atlantic. The AWP is subject to a significant degree of seasonal cycling, and the area covered by it fluctuates considerably, in that at its maximum extent, it has an area almost three times that at its minimum. [3] Some authors have recently observed the strong influence of the AWP on the global and regional climate. Wang et al. [2006], for example, showed evidence of the influence of the anomalous behavior of the AWP on summer rainfall and Atlantic hurricane activity in the Western Hemisphere. Duran‐Quesada et al. [2010] and Gimeno et al. [2009, 2010, 2011] provided some recent examples of the role of AWP as the main source of moisture on both sides