Profile

Kristopher Karnauskas

Associate Scientist

Geology & Geophysics

Office Phone: +1 508 289 3320

kkarnauskas@whoi.edu

» CV

Education

B.S., University of Wisconsin–Madison, Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences, 2004
Ph.D., University of Maryland–College Park, Atmospheric & Oceanic Science, 2007
Postdoctoral Fellow, LDEO of Columbia University, Ocean & Climate Physics, 2008–2009

Research Interests

My research aims to understand the dynamics of the tropical ocean and atmosphere as a coupled system, its interaction with ecosystems and with higher latitude regions, how and why the climate system has changed in the past, and how climate will continue to change in the future–both naturally and as driven by human activities.

Teaching

MIT 12.756 Climate Variability & Diagnostics (WHOI–MIT Joint Program, Spring 2012).
BC GE174 Climate Change and Society (Boston College, Fall 2010 & 2011).

Publications

(* student–led)

     Manuscripts in preparation

PDF Karnauskas, K.B., E. Mittelstaedt, R. Murtugudde, and D. Oppo (2013) The Plio–Pleistocene transition: An alternative view on Permanent El Niño. Revising for resubmission.
* Newby, P.E., J.P. Donnelly, K.B. Karnauskas, and B.N. Shuman (2013) A North Atlantic driver of centennial Holocene droughts in the U.S. Northeast. Revising for resubmission.
Gierach, M.M., M. Messié, M.-H. Radenac, and K.B. Karnauskas (2013) Equatorial Islands and Biophysical Responses in the Western Equatorial Pacific Ocean during El Niño/La Niña Transitions. In prep.
* Drenkard, E.J., and K.B. Karnauskas (2013) Observed strengthening of the Pacific Equatorial Undercurrent in the SODA record: Coupled mechanisms, ocean dynamics, and implications. In prep.
* Leslie, W., K.B. Karnauskas, and J. Witting (2013) The Equatorial Undercurrent and TAO sampling bias from a decade at SEA. In prep.

     Manuscripts submitted, in revision, or in press

PDF Sheffield, J., et al. (2013) North American climate in CMIP5 experiments. Part II: Evaluation of historical simulations of intra–seasonal to decadal variability. J. Climate, accepted.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., R. Murtugudde, and W.B. Owens (2013) Climate and the global reach of the Galápagos Archipelago: State of the knowledge. The Galápagos: A Natural Laboratory for the Earth Sciences, d'Ozouville et al. (Eds.), Geophys. Monogr. Ser., AGU., accepted.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., G.C. Johnson, and R. Murtugudde (2013) On the climate impacts of equatorial atolls. Nature Geoscience, in revision.
PDF Maloney, E., et al. (2013) North American climate in CMIP5 experiments. Part III: Assessment of 21st century projections. J. Climate, in revision.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B. (2013) Can we differentiate canonical El Niño from Modoki? Geophys. Res. Lett., in revision.
* PDF Criscitiello, A., S. Das, K.B. Karnauskas, M. Evans, K. Frey, I. Joughin, E. Steig, and J. McConnell (2013) Tropical Pacific influence on source and transport of marine aerosols to West Antarctica. J. Climate, in revision.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B. and C.C. Ummenhofer (2013) What drives the Earth’s Hadley circulation? Nature, under review.

     Published, peer–reviewed journal articles

PDF Karnauskas, K.B., 2013: Arctic forcing of decadal variability in the tropical Pacific Ocean in a high–resolution global coupled GCM. Clim. Dyn., 10.1007/s00382-013-1836-3.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., A. Giannini, R. Seager, and A.J. Busalacchi, 2013: A simple mechanism for the climatological midsummer drought along the Pacific coast of Central America. Atmósfera, 26(2), 261–281.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., J.E. Smerdon, R. Seager, and J.F. Gonzalez–Rouco, 2012: A Pacific centennial oscillation predicted by coupled GCMs. J. Climate, 25(17), 5943–5961.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., and A.L. Cohen, 2012: Equatorial refuge amid tropical warming. Nature Climate Change, 2, 530–534.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., G.C. Johnson, and R. Murtugudde, 2012: An equatorial ocean bottleneck in global climate models. J. Climate, 25(1), 343–349.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., R. Murtugudde, and A.J. Busalacchi, 2010: Observing the Galápagos–EUC interaction: Insights and challenges. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 40(12), 2768–2777.
PDF Cantin, N.E., A.L. Cohen, K.B. Karnauskas, A.M. Tarrant, and D.C. McCorkle, 2010: Ocean warming slows coral growth in the central Red Sea. Science, 329(5989), 322–325.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., R. Seager, A. Kaplan, Y. Kushnir, and M.A. Cane, 2009: Observed strengthening of the zonal sea surface temperature gradient across the equatorial Pacific Ocean. J. Climate, 22(16), 4316–4321.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., and A.J. Busalacchi, 2009: The role of SST in the east Pacific warm pool in the interannual variability of Central American rainfall. J. Climate, 22(10), 2605–2623.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., and A.J. Busalacchi, 2009: Mechanisms for the interannual variability of SST in the east Pacific warm pool. J. Climate, 22(6), 1375–1392.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., R. Murtugudde, and A.J. Busalacchi, 2008: The effect of the Galápagos Islands on ENSO in forced ocean and hybrid coupled models. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 38(11), 2519–2534.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., A.J. Busalacchi, and R. Murtugudde, 2008: Low–frequency variability and remote forcing of gap winds over the east Pacific warm pool. J. Climate, 21(19), 4901–4918.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., A. Ruiz–Barradas, S. Nigam, and A.J. Busalacchi, 2008: North American droughts in ERA–40 global and NCEP North American regional reanalyses: A Palmer Drought Severity Index perspective. J. Climate, 21(10), 2102–2123.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., R. Murtugudde, and A.J. Busalacchi, 2007: The effect of the Galápagos Islands on the equatorial Pacific cold tongue. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 37(5), 1266–1281.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., 2006: The African meridional OLR contrast as a diagnostic for Atlantic tropical cyclone activity and implications for predictability. Geophys. Res. Lett., 33(6), L06809.

     Invited articles & other reports

PDF Hellmuth, M.E., D.E. Osgood, U. Hess, A. Moorhead, and H. Bhojwani (eds), 2009: Index insurance and climate risk: Prospects for development and disaster management. Climate and Society No. 2. International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), Columbia University, New York, USA. (Contributing author)
PDF Osgood, D., A. Giannini, J. Hansen, E. Holthaus, A. Ines, Y. Kaheil, K. Karnauskas, M. McLaurin, A. Robertson, K. Shirley, and M. Vicarelli, 2009: Designing index–based weather insurance for farmers in Central America, Final report to the Commodity Risk Management Group, ARD, World Bank. Tech. Rep. No. 09–01. International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Palisades, NY, USA, 79 pp.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., R. Seager, A. Kaplan, Y. Kushnir, and M.A. Cane, 2009: The response of the equatorial Pacific Ocean to global warming. Preprints, AMS 89th Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, 8B.3.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., Murtugudde, R., and A.J. Busalacchi, 2008: The effect of the Galápagos Islands on ENSO. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.–Nowcast/Papers of Note, 89(7), 966–967.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., Murtugudde, R., and A.J. Busalacchi, 2007: Impact of the Galápagos Islands on the equatorial Pacific. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.–Nowcast/Papers of Note, 88(3), 302–303.
PDF Karnauskas, K.B., 2006: Improved modeling of SST in the Pacific cold tongue: Implications for the NCEP GODAS and CFS. NOAA/NWS Science and Technology Infusion Climate Bulletin. July, 2006.