The Impact of North Atlantic-Arctic Multidecadal Variability on Northern Hemisphere Surface Air Temperature

• Published in: Journal of Climate
• Main Authors: Semenov, Vladimir, Latif, Mojib, Dommenget, Dietmar, Keenlyside, Noel, Strehz, Alexander, Martin, Thomas, Park, Wonsun
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: AMS (American Meteorological Society) 2010
• Subjects: Arctic; Atlantic Arctic; Atlantic-Arctic; North Atlantic; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/8740/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/8740/1/semenov.et.al.arctic.warming.jcl2010.accepted.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JCLI3347.1

The 20th century Northern Hemisphere surface climate exhibits a long-term warming trend, largely caused by anthropogenic forcing, and natural decadal climate variability superimposed on it. This study addresses the possible origin and strength of internal decadal climate variability in the Northern Hemisphere during the recent decades. We present results from a set of climate model simulations that suggest natural internal multidecadal climate variability in the North Atlantic-Arctic Sector could have considerably contributed to the Northern Hemisphere surface warming since 1980. Although covering only a few percent of the earth’s surface, the Arctic may have provided the largest share in this. It is hypothesized that a stronger Meridional Overturning Circulation in the Atlantic and the associated increase in northward heat transport enhanced the heat loss from the ocean to the atmosphere in the North Atlantic region, and especially in the North Atlantic portion of the Arctic due to anomalously strong sea ice melt. The model results stress the potential importance of natural internal multidecadal variability originating in the North Atlantic-Arctic Sector in generating inter-decadal climate changes not only on a regional, but possibly also on a hemispheric and even global scale.