Assessing the stability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation of the past, present, and future

• Published in: Journal of Meteorological Research
• Main Authors: Liu Wei, Liu Zhengyu
• Other Authors: Liu, W (reprint author), Univ Calif San Diego, Scripps Inst Oceanog, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA., Univ Calif San Diego, Scripps Inst Oceanog, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA., Peking Univ, Lab Climate Ocean & Atmospher Studies, Beijing 100081, Peoples R China., Univ Wisconsin, Ctr Climat Res, Madison, WI 53706 USA.
• Format: Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: journal of meteorological research 2014
• Subjects: AMOC; stability indicator; freshwater transports; ITCZ; deglaciation; MULTIPLE EQUILIBRIA REGIME; ABRUPT CLIMATE-CHANGE; MELTWATER PULSE 1A; THERMOHALINE CIRCULATION; NORTH-ATLANTIC; OCEAN CIRCULATION; COUPLED MODEL; ICE-SHEET; LAST DEGLACIATION; DEEP CIRCULATION; Ice Sheet; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/208219; https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-014-4006-6

This paper is a review of the recent development of researches on the stability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). In particular, we will review recent studies that attempt to best assess the stability of the AMOC in the past, present, and future by using a stability indicator related to the freshwater transport by the AMOC. These studies further illustrate a potentially systematic bias in the state-of-the-art atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs), in which the AMOCs seem to be over-stabilized relative to that in the real world. This common model bias in the AMOC stability is contributed, partly, to a common tropical bias associated with the double intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) in most state-of-the-art AOGCMs, casting doubts on future projection of abrupt climate changes in these climate models. http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000344078000009&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701 Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences SCI(E) 2 5 803-819 28