Abstract The spectral view of variability is a compelling and adaptable tool for understanding variability of the climate. In Mitchell (1976) seminal paper, it was used to express, on one graph with log scales, a very wide range of climate variations from millions of years to days. The spectral approach is particularly useful for suggesting causal links between forcing variability and climate response variability. However, a substantial degree of variability is intrinsic and the Earth system may respond to external forcing in a complex manner. There has been an enormous amount of work on understanding climate variability over the last decades. Hence in this paper, we address the question: Can we (after 40 years) update the Mitchell (1976) diagram and provide it with a better interpretation? By reviewing both the extended observations available for such a diagram and new methodological developments in the study of the interaction between internal and forced variability over a wide range of timescales, we give a positive answer to this question. In addition, we review alternative approaches to the spectral decomposition and pose some challenges for a more detailed quantification of climate variability.

中文翻译：

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气候变率记录的量化和解释

摘要 变率的光谱视图是理解气候变率的一种引人注目且适应性强的工具。在 Mitchell (1976) 开创性的论文中，它被用来在一个对数尺度的图表上表达从数百万年到数天的非常广泛的气候变化。谱方法对于提出强迫变率和气候响应变率之间的因果关系特别有用。然而，很大程度的可变性是内在的，地球系统可能以复杂的方式对外部强迫做出反应。在过去的几十年里，在理解气候变率方面进行了大量工作。因此，在本文中，我们解决了这个问题：我们能否（40 年后）更新 Mitchell (1976) 图并为其提供更好的解释？通过回顾可用于此类图表的扩展观察以及在广泛的时间尺度内研究内部和强制可变性之间相互作用的新方法学发展，我们对这个问题给出了肯定的答案。此外，我们回顾了光谱分解的替代方法，并为更详细地量化气候变率提出了一些挑战。