North Atlantic meltwater during Heinrich Stadial 1 drives wetter climate with more atmospheric rivers in western North America
Atmospheric rivers (ARs) bring concentrated rainfall and flooding to the western United States (US) and are hypothesized to have supported sustained hydroclimatic changes in the past. However, their ephemeral nature makes it challenging to document ARs in climate models and estimate their contributi...
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craaas:10.1126/sciadv.adj2225 2024-06-09T07:47:59+00:00 North Atlantic meltwater during Heinrich Stadial 1 drives wetter climate with more atmospheric rivers in western North America Oster, Jessica L. Macarewich, Sophia Lofverstrom, Marcus de Wet, Cameron Montañez, Isabel Lora, Juan M. Skinner, Christopher Tabor, Clay 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adj2225 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.adj2225 en eng American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science Advances volume 9, issue 46 ISSN 2375-2548 journal-article 2023 craaas https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adj2225 2024-05-16T12:54:10Z Atmospheric rivers (ARs) bring concentrated rainfall and flooding to the western United States (US) and are hypothesized to have supported sustained hydroclimatic changes in the past. However, their ephemeral nature makes it challenging to document ARs in climate models and estimate their contribution to hydroclimate changes recorded by time-averaged paleoclimate archives. We present new climate model simulations of Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1; 16,000 years before the present), an interval characterized by widespread wetness in the western US, that demonstrate increased AR frequency and winter precipitation sourced from the southeastern North Pacific. These changes are amplified with freshwater fluxes into the North Atlantic, indicating that North Atlantic cooling associated with weakened Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a key driver of HS1 climate in this region. As recent observations suggest potential weakening of AMOC, our identified connection between North Atlantic climate and northeast Pacific AR activity has implications for future western US hydroclimate. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Pacific Science Advances 9 46 |
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Open Polar |
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AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) |
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craaas |
language |
English |
description |
Atmospheric rivers (ARs) bring concentrated rainfall and flooding to the western United States (US) and are hypothesized to have supported sustained hydroclimatic changes in the past. However, their ephemeral nature makes it challenging to document ARs in climate models and estimate their contribution to hydroclimate changes recorded by time-averaged paleoclimate archives. We present new climate model simulations of Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1; 16,000 years before the present), an interval characterized by widespread wetness in the western US, that demonstrate increased AR frequency and winter precipitation sourced from the southeastern North Pacific. These changes are amplified with freshwater fluxes into the North Atlantic, indicating that North Atlantic cooling associated with weakened Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a key driver of HS1 climate in this region. As recent observations suggest potential weakening of AMOC, our identified connection between North Atlantic climate and northeast Pacific AR activity has implications for future western US hydroclimate. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Oster, Jessica L. Macarewich, Sophia Lofverstrom, Marcus de Wet, Cameron Montañez, Isabel Lora, Juan M. Skinner, Christopher Tabor, Clay |
spellingShingle |
Oster, Jessica L. Macarewich, Sophia Lofverstrom, Marcus de Wet, Cameron Montañez, Isabel Lora, Juan M. Skinner, Christopher Tabor, Clay North Atlantic meltwater during Heinrich Stadial 1 drives wetter climate with more atmospheric rivers in western North America |
author_facet |
Oster, Jessica L. Macarewich, Sophia Lofverstrom, Marcus de Wet, Cameron Montañez, Isabel Lora, Juan M. Skinner, Christopher Tabor, Clay |
author_sort |
Oster, Jessica L. |
title |
North Atlantic meltwater during Heinrich Stadial 1 drives wetter climate with more atmospheric rivers in western North America |
title_short |
North Atlantic meltwater during Heinrich Stadial 1 drives wetter climate with more atmospheric rivers in western North America |
title_full |
North Atlantic meltwater during Heinrich Stadial 1 drives wetter climate with more atmospheric rivers in western North America |
title_fullStr |
North Atlantic meltwater during Heinrich Stadial 1 drives wetter climate with more atmospheric rivers in western North America |
title_full_unstemmed |
North Atlantic meltwater during Heinrich Stadial 1 drives wetter climate with more atmospheric rivers in western North America |
title_sort |
north atlantic meltwater during heinrich stadial 1 drives wetter climate with more atmospheric rivers in western north america |
publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adj2225 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.adj2225 |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Science Advances volume 9, issue 46 ISSN 2375-2548 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adj2225 |
container_title |
Science Advances |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
46 |
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1801379503624159232 |