Large-scale sea ice–Surface temperature variability linked to Atlantic meridional overturning circulation

Due to its involvement in numerous feedbacks, sea ice plays a crucial role not only for polar climate but also at global scale. We analyse state-of-the-art observed, reconstructed, and modelled sea-ice concentration (SIC) together with sea surface temperature (SST) to disentangle the influence of di...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLOS ONE
Main Authors: Vaideanu, Petru, Stepanek, Christian, Dima, Mihai, Schrepfer, Jule, Matos, Fernanda, Ionita, Monica, Lohmann, Gerrit
Other Authors: Ummenhofer, Caroline, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Romanian UEFISCDI, Helmholtz Information & Data Science Academy, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2023
Subjects:
Antarc*
Antarctic
Arctic
North Atlantic
North Atlantic oscillation
Sea ice
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290437
https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290437
Description
Summary:Due to its involvement in numerous feedbacks, sea ice plays a crucial role not only for polar climate but also at global scale. We analyse state-of-the-art observed, reconstructed, and modelled sea-ice concentration (SIC) together with sea surface temperature (SST) to disentangle the influence of different forcing factors on the variability of these coupled fields. Canonical Correlation Analysis provides distinct pairs of coupled Arctic SIC–Atlantic SST variability which are linked to prominent oceanic and atmospheric modes of variability over the period 1854–2017. The first pair captures the behaviour of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) while the third and can be associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) in a physically consistent manner. The dominant global SIC–Atlantic SST coupled mode highlights the contrast between the responses of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice to changes in AMOC over the 1959–2021 period. Model results indicate that coupled SST–SIC patterns can be associated with changes in ocean circulation. We conclude that a correct representation of AMOC-induced coupled SST–SIC variability in climate models is essential to understand the past, present and future sea-ice evolution.

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