Atlantic Equatorial mode  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search  The Atlantic Equatorial Mode or
Atlantic Niño is a quasiperiodic interannual climate pattern of
the equatorial Atlantic Ocean. It is the dominant mode of year-
to-year variability that results in alternating warming and
cooling episodes of sea surface temperatures accompanied by
changes in atmospheric circulation.[1] The term Atlantic Niño
comes from its close similarity with the El Niño-Southern
Oscillation (ENSO) that dominates the tropical Pacific basin.
The Atlantic Niño is not the same as the Atlantic Meridional
(Interhemispheric) Mode that consists of a north-south dipole
and operates more on decadal timescales.[2] The equatorial
warming and cooling events associated with the Atlantic Niño are
known to be strongly related to atmospheric climate anomalies,
especially in African countries bordering the Gulf of Guinea.
Therefore, understanding of the Atlantic Niño (or lack thereof)
has important implications for cli