This paper is a product from the SW CSC FY 11 project, "Climate change impacts in the Southwest: An assessment of next generation climate models for making projections and derivations". Abstract: Natural climate variability will continue to be an important aspect of future regional climate even in the midst of long-term secular changes. Consequently, the ability of climate models to simulate major natural modes of variability and their teleconnections provides important context for the interpretation and use of climate change projections. Comparisons reported here indicate that the CMIP5 generation of global climate models shows significant improvements in simulations of key Pacific climate mode and their teleconnections to North [...]
