Robust polar amplification in ice-free climates relies on ocean heat transport and cloud radiative effects ...

• Main Authors: England, Mark, Feldl, Nicole
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences 2023
• Subjects: Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.57757/iugg23-2009; https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5017554

<!--!introduction!--> A fundamental divide exists between previous studies which conclude that polar amplification does not occur without sea ice and studies which find that polar amplification is an inherent feature of the climate system independent of sea ice. We hypothesise that a representation of climatological ocean heat transport is key for simulating polar amplification in ice-free climates. To investigate this we run a suite of targeted experiments in the slab ocean aquaplanet configuration of CESM2-CAM6 with different profiles of prescribed q-fluxes. In simulations without climatological ocean heat transport, polar amplification does not occur. In contrast, in simulations with climatological ocean heat transport, robust polar amplification occurs in all seasons. What is causing this dependence of polar amplification on ocean heat transport? Energy-balance model theory is incapable of explaining our results and in fact would predict that introducing ocean heat transport leads to less polar ... : The 28th IUGG General Assembly (IUGG2023) (Berlin 2023) ...