Arctic amplification dominated by temperature feedbacks in contemporary climate models
Climate change is amplified in the Arctic region. Arctic amplification has been found in past warm1 and glacial periods, as well as in historical observations and climate model experiments. Feedback effects associated with temperature, water vapour and clouds have been suggested to contribute to amp...
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ftpubman:oai:pure.mpg.de:item_1850432 2023-08-20T03:59:16+02:00 Arctic amplification dominated by temperature feedbacks in contemporary climate models Pithan, F. Mauritsen, T. 2014-03 http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0015-18ED-7 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/ngeo2071 http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0015-18ED-7 Nature Geoscience info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2014 ftpubman https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2071 2023-08-01T22:42:50Z Climate change is amplified in the Arctic region. Arctic amplification has been found in past warm1 and glacial periods, as well as in historical observations and climate model experiments. Feedback effects associated with temperature, water vapour and clouds have been suggested to contribute to amplified warming in the Arctic, but the surface albedo feedback—the increase in surface absorption of solar radiation when snow and ice retreat—is often cited as the main contributor. However, Arctic amplification is also found in models without changes in snow and ice cover. Here we analyse climate model simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 archive to quantify the contributions of the various feedbacks. We find that in the simulations, the largest contribution to Arctic amplification comes from a temperature feedbacks: as the surface warms, more energy is radiated back to space in low latitudes, compared with the Arctic. This effect can be attributed to both the different vertical structure of the warming in high and low latitudes, and a smaller increase in emitted blackbody radiation per unit warming at colder temperatures. We find that the surface albedo feedback is the second main contributor to Arctic amplification and that other contributions are substantially smaller or even opposeArctic amplification. Article in Journal/Newspaper albedo Arctic Climate change Max Planck Society: MPG.PuRe Arctic Nature Geoscience 7 3 181 184 |
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Max Planck Society: MPG.PuRe |
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English |
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Climate change is amplified in the Arctic region. Arctic amplification has been found in past warm1 and glacial periods, as well as in historical observations and climate model experiments. Feedback effects associated with temperature, water vapour and clouds have been suggested to contribute to amplified warming in the Arctic, but the surface albedo feedback—the increase in surface absorption of solar radiation when snow and ice retreat—is often cited as the main contributor. However, Arctic amplification is also found in models without changes in snow and ice cover. Here we analyse climate model simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 archive to quantify the contributions of the various feedbacks. We find that in the simulations, the largest contribution to Arctic amplification comes from a temperature feedbacks: as the surface warms, more energy is radiated back to space in low latitudes, compared with the Arctic. This effect can be attributed to both the different vertical structure of the warming in high and low latitudes, and a smaller increase in emitted blackbody radiation per unit warming at colder temperatures. We find that the surface albedo feedback is the second main contributor to Arctic amplification and that other contributions are substantially smaller or even opposeArctic amplification. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pithan, F. Mauritsen, T. |
spellingShingle |
Pithan, F. Mauritsen, T. Arctic amplification dominated by temperature feedbacks in contemporary climate models |
author_facet |
Pithan, F. Mauritsen, T. |
author_sort |
Pithan, F. |
title |
Arctic amplification dominated by temperature feedbacks in contemporary climate models |
title_short |
Arctic amplification dominated by temperature feedbacks in contemporary climate models |
title_full |
Arctic amplification dominated by temperature feedbacks in contemporary climate models |
title_fullStr |
Arctic amplification dominated by temperature feedbacks in contemporary climate models |
title_full_unstemmed |
Arctic amplification dominated by temperature feedbacks in contemporary climate models |
title_sort |
arctic amplification dominated by temperature feedbacks in contemporary climate models |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0015-18ED-7 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
albedo Arctic Climate change |
genre_facet |
albedo Arctic Climate change |
op_source |
Nature Geoscience |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/ngeo2071 http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0015-18ED-7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2071 |
container_title |
Nature Geoscience |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
181 |
op_container_end_page |
184 |
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1774724871564034048 |