Research groups at Mie University, Hokkaido University, and Niigata University have discovered that the Arctic Oscillation and the Antarctic Oscillation are fluctuating in synchronization.
In the sky above the Arctic, there is a huge cyclone that covers the entire Arctic, and the phenomenon in which this cyclone repeats its strength and weakness is called the Arctic Oscillation.When the cyclone is strong, the wind turns fast counterclockwise, and when the low pressure is weak, it turns slowly counterclockwise as well.Since this wind is called a westerly wind (jet stream), the Arctic Oscillation can be said to be a phenomenon in which the westerlies repeat strength and weakness.On the other hand, even over the Antarctic, the westerlies rotate repeatedly in the same way as the Arctic, and this is called the Antarctic Oscillation.
The Arctic Oscillation is said to cause abnormal weather such as severe winters and intense heat over a wide area of the Northern Hemisphere, including Japan, and its prediction is an urgent issue from an economic and social point of view.In addition, the Antarctic Oscillation is strongly related to the ozone hole and is extremely important for the global environment.However, since the Arctic and Antarctic are geographically farthest from each other, no studies have investigated the synchronized fluctuations of the Arctic and Antarctic Oscillations.
On the other hand, there are some studies that suggest a relationship between the two.Based on this idea, the research group, which was inspired by the idea that the Arctic Oscillation and the Antarctic Oscillation may be synchronized, conducted an analysis, and as a result, there was a significant positive correlation between the Arctic Oscillation Index and the Antarctic Oscillation Index. I found.That is, the Arctic and Antarctic cyclones may be changing in the same way, which can be rephrased as the changes in the westerlies of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres occurring together.
This study can be said to be the first study to suggest that Japan's extreme weather is related to the distant Antarctic.The research group believes that one of the causes is that the ozone layer in the sky acts as an intermediary between the Arctic Oscillation and the Antarctic Oscillation.
Paper information:[Geophysical Research Letters] Interhemispheric synchronization between the AO and the AAO2
