This textbook provides a mathematical introduction to the theory of large-scale ocean circulation. It is accessible for readers with an elementary knowledge of mathematics and physics, including continuum mechanics and solution methods for ordinary differential equations.

At the end of each chapter several exercises are formulated. Many of these are aimed to further develop methodological skills and to get familiar with the physical concepts. New material is introduced in only a few of these exercises. Fully worked out answers to all exercises can be downloaded from the book 's web site.

In this book, methodology of dynamical systems theory is applied to investigate the physics of the large-scale ocean circulation. Topics include the dynamics of western boundary currents such as the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean and the Kurosio in the Pacific Ocean, the stability of the thermohaline circulation, and the El NiAo/Southern Oscillation phenomenon in the Tropical Pacific. The book also deals with the numerical methods to apply bifurcation analysis on large-dimensional dynamical systems, with tens of thousands (or more) degrees of freedom, which arise through discretization of ocean and climate models. The novel approach to understand the phenomena of climate variability is through a systematic analysis of the solution structure of a hierarchy of models using these techniques. In this way, a connection between the results of the different models within the hierarchy can be established. Mechanistic description of the physics of the results is provided and, where possible, links with results of state-of-the-art ocean (and climate) models and observations are sought. The reader is expected to have a background in basic fluid dynamics and applied mathematics, although the level of the text sometimes is quite introductory. Each of the chapters is rather self-contained and many details of derivations are provided. Exercises presented at the end of each chapter make it a perfect graduate-level text.

This book is aimed at graduate students and researchers in meteorology, oceanography and related fields who are interested in tackling fundamental problems in dynamical oceanography and climate dynamics.

Since decline in the early 1980s, most countries in Central America and the Caribbean have returned to positive economic growth. The recovery often coincided with or followed extensive neoliberal reforms. The contributors to this book address the crucial question of whether these growth rates are sustainable. Several aspects of sustainability are assessed, in particular macroeconomic, social, and ecological aspects. The book includes both comparative analyses focusing on one of these aspects of sustainability, and country case studies.

In this book, the methodology of dynamical systems theory is applied to investigate the physics of the global ocean circulation. Topics include the dynamics of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean, the stability of the thermohaline circulation and the El NiAo/Southern Oscillation phenomenon in the Tropical Pacific. On the other hand, the book also deals with the numerical methods for applying bifurcation analysis on large dimensional dynamical systems, with thousands or more degrees of freedom, which arise through discretization of ocean models. The novel approach in understanding the phenomena of climate variability is through a systematic analysis within a hierarchy of models using these techniques. In this way, a nice overview is obtained of the relations between the results of the different models within the hierarchy. Mechanistic description of the physics of the results is provided and, where possible, links with results of state-of-the-art models and observations are sought. The reader is expected to have a background in basic incompressible fluid dynamics and applied mathematics, although the level of the text is mixed and sometimes quite introductory. Each chapter is rather self-contained and many details of derivations are provided. The book is aimed at graduate students and researchers in meteorology, oceanography, and related fields who are interested in tackling fundamental problems in dynamical oceanography and climate dynamics.

In this book, the methodology of dynamical systems theory is applied to investigate the physics of the global ocean circulation. Topics include the dynamics of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean, the stability of the thermohaline circulation and the El Nino/Southern Oscillation phenomenon in the Tropical Pacific. On the other hand, the book also deals with the numerical methods for applying bifurcation analysis on large dimensional dynamical systems, with thousands or more degrees of freedom, which arise through discretization of ocean models. The novel approach in understanding the phenomena of climate variability is through a systematic analysis within a hierarchy of models using these techniques. In this way, a nice overview is obtained of the relations between the results of the different models within the hierarchy. Mechanistic description of the physics of the results is provided and, where possible, links with results of state-of-the-art models and observations are sought. The reader is expected to have a background in basic incompressible fluid dynamics and applied mathematics, although the level of the text is mixed and sometimes quite introductory. Each chapter is rather self-contained and many details of derivations are provided. The book is aimed at graduate students and researchers in meteorology, oceanography, and related fields who are interested in tackling fundamental problems in dynamical oceanography and climate dynamics.

This textbook provides a mathematical introduction to the theory of large-scale ocean circulation. It is accessible for readers with an elementary knowledge of mathematics and physics, including continuum mechanics and solution methods for ordinary differential equations.

At the end of each chapter several exercises are formulated. Many of these are aimed to further develop methodological skills and to get familiar with the physical concepts. New material is introduced in only a few of these exercises. Fully worked out answers to all exercises can be downloaded from the book 's web site.

Since the economic decline in the early 1980s, most countries in Central America and the Caribbean have returned to positive growth rates. The recovery often coincided with or followed extensive neoliberal reforms. The contributors to this book address the crucial question of whether these growth rates are sustainable. Several aspects of sustainability are assessed, in particular macroeconomic, social, and ecological aspects. The book includes both comparative analyses focusing on one of these aspects of sustainability, and country case studies. The conclusion is that these countries have not yet arrived at a sustainable growth path due to, for example, high levels of foreign and domestic debt, worrisome trade gaps, a lack of social integration and irresponsible exploitation of natural resources. In sum, the analysis points to serious weaknesses in the current neoliberal model, the implications of which go far beyond this particular region.

This book introduces stochastic dynamical systems theory in order to synthesize our current knowledge of climate variability. Nonlinear processes, such as advection, radiation and turbulent mixing, play a central role in climate variability. These processes can give rise to transition phenomena, associated with tipping or bifurcation points, once external conditions are changed. The theory of dynamical systems provides a systematic way to study these transition phenomena. Its stochastic extension also forms the basis of modern (nonlinear) data analysis techniques, predictability studies and data assimilation methods. Early chapters apply the stochastic dynamical systems framework to a hierarchy of climate models to synthesize current knowledge of climate variability. Later chapters analyse phenomena such as the North Atlantic Oscillation, El Nino/Southern Oscillation, Atlantic Multidecadal Variability, Dansgaard-Oeschger events, Pleistocene ice ages and climate predictability. This book will prove invaluable for graduate students and researchers in climate dynamics, physical oceanography, meteorology and paleoclimatology.

A better understanding of the mechanisms leading a fluid system to exhibit turbulent behavior is one of the grand challenges of the physical and mathematical sciences. Over the last few decades, numerical bifurcation methods have been extended and applied to a number of flow problems to identify critical conditions for fluid instabilities to occur. This book provides a state-of-the-art account of these numerical methods, with much attention to modern linear systems solvers and generalized eigenvalue solvers. These methods also have a broad applicability in industrial, environmental and astrophysical flows. The book is a must-have reference for anyone working in scientific fields where fluid flow instabilities play a role. Exercises at the end of each chapter and Python code for the bifurcation analysis of canonical fluid flow problems provide practice material to get to grips with the methods and concepts presented in the book.

Over the last two decades the complex network paradigm has proven to be a fruitful tool for the investigation of complex systems in many areas of science; for example, the Internet, neural networks and social networks. This book provides an overview of applications of network theory to climate variability, such as the El Nino/Southern Oscillation and the Indian Monsoon, presenting recent important results obtained with these techniques and showing their potential for further development and research. The book is aimed at researchers and graduate students in climate science. A basic background in physics and mathematics is required. Several of the methodologies presented here will also be valuable to a broader audience of those interested in network science, for example, from biomedicine, ecology and economics.