Hysteresis of European summer precipitation under a symmetric CO2 ramp-up and ramp-down pathway

This study investigates the mechanism of the hysteresis of European summer mean precipitation in a CO _2 removal (CDR) simulation. The European summer mean precipitation exhibits robust hysteresis in response to the CO _2 forcing; after decreasing substantially (∼40%) during the ramp-up period, it s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental Research Letters
Main Authors: Nari Im, Daehyun Kim, Soon-Il An, Seungmok Paik, Soong-Ki Kim, Jongsoo Shin, Seung-Ki Min, Jong-Seong Kug, Hyoeun Oh
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2024
Subjects:
hysteresis
European summer precipitation
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
carbon dioxide removal scenario
Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
TD1-1066
Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Science
Q
Physics
QC1-999
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad52ad
https://doaj.org/article/329647cf53e2458b85aa0faf0c76bb90
Description
Summary:This study investigates the mechanism of the hysteresis of European summer mean precipitation in a CO _2 removal (CDR) simulation. The European summer mean precipitation exhibits robust hysteresis in response to the CO _2 forcing; after decreasing substantially (∼40%) during the ramp-up period, it shows delayed recovery during the ramp-down period. We found that the precipitation hysteresis over Europe is tied to the hysteresis in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). During the ramp-down period, an anomalous high surface pressure circulation prevails over Europe. The anomalous high pressure system is a baroclinic response of the atmosphere to strong North Atlantic cooling associated with a weakened AMOC. This anomalous circulation suppresses summertime convective activity over the entire Europe by decreasing near-surface moist enthalpy in Central and Northern Europe while increasing lower free-tropospheric temperature in Southern Europe. Our findings underscore the need to understand complex interactions in the Earth system for reliable future projections of regional precipitation change under CDR scenarios.

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