Interaction between the West African Monsoon and the summer Mediterranean climate: An overview.
Résumé
Although in the framework of the global climate research the Mediterranean climate variability and
the West African Monsoon (WAM) dynamics have been considered for a long time as “passive”
systems, i.e., prone to the influence of large scale ocean and atmospheric variability, over the last
decade many studies have been dedicated to the WAM-Mediterranean interaction and the active role
of these climate systems has been highlighted. This article presents the WAM-Mediterranean
teleconnection through an overview of the recent literature, describing the observational evidences
and the dynamical mechanisms underlying this climate teleconnection. The influence of the Mediterranean
Sea thermal anomalies on the WAM dynamics has been robustly demonstrated, and a
WAM modulation of the atmospheric circulation over the Euro-Atlantic sector has been highlighted.
On the other hand, the direct effects of the WAM dynamics on the Mediterranean climate still need
to be more clearly understood.