Sensitivity of climate response to variations in freshwater hosing location
In a recent intercomparison of the response of general circulation models (GCMs) to high-latitude freshwater forcing (Stouffer et al., J Climate 19(8):1365-1387, 2006), a number of the GCMs investigated showed a localised warming response in the high-latitude North Atlantic, as opposed to the coolin...
Published in: | Ocean Dynamics |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
2009
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/24417/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-009-0189-2 |
id |
ftuniveastangl:oai:ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk:24417 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftuniveastangl:oai:ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk:24417 2023-05-15T15:05:43+02:00 Sensitivity of climate response to variations in freshwater hosing location Kleinen, Thomas Osborn, Timothy J. Briffa, Keith R. 2009 https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/24417/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-009-0189-2 unknown Kleinen, Thomas, Osborn, Timothy J. and Briffa, Keith R. (2009) Sensitivity of climate response to variations in freshwater hosing location. Ocean Dynamics, 59 (3). pp. 509-521. doi:10.1007/s10236-009-0189-2 Article PeerReviewed 2009 ftuniveastangl https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-009-0189-2 2023-03-23T23:31:28Z In a recent intercomparison of the response of general circulation models (GCMs) to high-latitude freshwater forcing (Stouffer et al., J Climate 19(8):1365-1387, 2006), a number of the GCMs investigated showed a localised warming response in the high-latitude North Atlantic, as opposed to the cooling that the other models showed. We investigated the causes for this warming by testing the sensitivity of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) to variations in freshwater forcing location, and then analysing in detail the causes of the warming. By analysing results from experiments with HadCM3, we are able to show that the high-latitude warming is independent of the exact location of the additional freshwater in the North Atlantic or Arctic Ocean basin. Instead, the addition of freshwater changes the circulation in the sub-polar gyre, which leads to enhanced advection of warm, saline, sub-surface water into the Greenland-Iceland-Norwegian Sea despite the overall slowdown of the MOC. This sub-surface water is brought to the surface by convection, where it leads to a strong warming of the surface waters and the overlying atmosphere. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ocean Greenland Iceland North Atlantic Norwegian Sea University of East Anglia: UEA Digital Repository Arctic Arctic Ocean Greenland Norwegian Sea Ocean Dynamics 59 3 509 521 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of East Anglia: UEA Digital Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftuniveastangl |
language |
unknown |
description |
In a recent intercomparison of the response of general circulation models (GCMs) to high-latitude freshwater forcing (Stouffer et al., J Climate 19(8):1365-1387, 2006), a number of the GCMs investigated showed a localised warming response in the high-latitude North Atlantic, as opposed to the cooling that the other models showed. We investigated the causes for this warming by testing the sensitivity of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) to variations in freshwater forcing location, and then analysing in detail the causes of the warming. By analysing results from experiments with HadCM3, we are able to show that the high-latitude warming is independent of the exact location of the additional freshwater in the North Atlantic or Arctic Ocean basin. Instead, the addition of freshwater changes the circulation in the sub-polar gyre, which leads to enhanced advection of warm, saline, sub-surface water into the Greenland-Iceland-Norwegian Sea despite the overall slowdown of the MOC. This sub-surface water is brought to the surface by convection, where it leads to a strong warming of the surface waters and the overlying atmosphere. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kleinen, Thomas Osborn, Timothy J. Briffa, Keith R. |
spellingShingle |
Kleinen, Thomas Osborn, Timothy J. Briffa, Keith R. Sensitivity of climate response to variations in freshwater hosing location |
author_facet |
Kleinen, Thomas Osborn, Timothy J. Briffa, Keith R. |
author_sort |
Kleinen, Thomas |
title |
Sensitivity of climate response to variations in freshwater hosing location |
title_short |
Sensitivity of climate response to variations in freshwater hosing location |
title_full |
Sensitivity of climate response to variations in freshwater hosing location |
title_fullStr |
Sensitivity of climate response to variations in freshwater hosing location |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sensitivity of climate response to variations in freshwater hosing location |
title_sort |
sensitivity of climate response to variations in freshwater hosing location |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/24417/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-009-0189-2 |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Greenland Norwegian Sea |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Greenland Norwegian Sea |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Greenland Iceland North Atlantic Norwegian Sea |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Greenland Iceland North Atlantic Norwegian Sea |
op_relation |
Kleinen, Thomas, Osborn, Timothy J. and Briffa, Keith R. (2009) Sensitivity of climate response to variations in freshwater hosing location. Ocean Dynamics, 59 (3). pp. 509-521. doi:10.1007/s10236-009-0189-2 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-009-0189-2 |
container_title |
Ocean Dynamics |
container_volume |
59 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
509 |
op_container_end_page |
521 |
_version_ |
1766337358699954176 |