Stronger Arctic amplification from ozone-depleting substances than from carbon dioxide
Arctic amplification (AA)—the greater warming of the Arctic near-surface temperature relative to its global mean value—is a prominent feature of the climate response to increasing greenhouse gases. Recent work has revealed the importance of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) in contributing to Arctic...
| Published in: | Environmental Research Letters |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac4a31 https://doaj.org/article/b920499c59d0441cb8ff08f771c1542a |
| Summary: | Arctic amplification (AA)—the greater warming of the Arctic near-surface temperature relative to its global mean value—is a prominent feature of the climate response to increasing greenhouse gases. Recent work has revealed the importance of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) in contributing to Arctic warming and sea-ice loss. Here, using ensembles of climate model integrations, we expand on that work and directly contrast Arctic warming from ODS to that from carbon dioxide (CO _2 ), over the 1955–2005 period when ODS loading peaked. We find that the Arctic warming and sea-ice loss from ODS are slightly more than half (52%–59%) those from CO _2 . We further show that the strength of AA for ODS is 1.44 times larger than that for CO _2 , and that this mainly stems from more positive Planck, albedo, lapse-rate, and cloud feedbacks. Our results suggest that AA would be considerably stronger than presently observed had the Montreal Protocol not been signed. |
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