Atmospheric Superrotation in Warm Earth Climates

Abstract

This thesis considers atmospheric superrotation, a state of westerly equatorial winds which must be maintained by up-gradient eddy momentum fluxes. Superrotation has appeared in simulations of warm climates that generate enhanced Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO)-like variability. This led to hypotheses that the warmer atmospheres of the early Pliocene and Eocene may have been superrotating, and that the phenomenon may be relevant to future climate projections.