The influence of ocean circulation on climate variability

Ocean currents are partly responsible for the sea surface temperature (SST) distribution and its variability, thus influencing climate. We will briefly comment some of its most remarkable features. First, in the central equatorial Pacific, where fluctuating zonal currents strongly modulate the zonal extension of the wester Pacific warm poll, therefore how El Nino events evolve. Then we will comment SST variability in the western tropical Atlantic, before discussing the observed propagation of SST features in the north Atlantic on multi-annual time scales, as well as the displacements of currents, in first place, of the Gulf Stream. Finally, we will comment possible changes in the meridional circulation of the North Atlantic as a result of greenhouse gases induced climate change.