Bipolar seesaw (Q348)

Subject, term, tag: Bipolar seesaw

Bipolar seesaw (also inter-hemispheric seesaw, inter-hemispheric asymmetry, hemispheric asymmetry)

Language	Label	Description	Also known as
English	Bipolar seesaw	Subject, term, tag: Bipolar seesaw	Bipolar seesaw (also inter-hemispheric seesaw, inter-hemispheric asymmetry, hemispheric asymmetry)

Statements

Instance of

Category

source version

IPCC Glossary v1.5

1 reference

Source

https://apps.ipcc.ch/glossary/

date accessed

27 May 2026

Part of

Working Group I: Climate Change 2021 – The Physical Science Basis

0 references

Definition

A phenomenon in which temperature changes in the Northern and Southern hemispheres are related but out of phase, generally inferred to represent a change in the magnitude or sign of net heat transport across the equator. Originally called hemispheric asymmetry and linked to changes in thermohaline overturning circulation on multi-millennial scales (Mix et al, 1986), later named bipolar seesaw and applied to millennial scales (Broecker, 1998) with a similar thermohaline mechanism (Stocker and Johnsen, 2003). (English)