The role of local sea surface temperature pattern changes in shaping climate change in the North Atlantic sector
Beside its global effects, climate change is manifested in many regionally pronounced features mainly resulting from changes in the oceanic and atmospheric circulation. Here we investigate the influence of the North Atlantic SST on shaping the winter-time response to global warming. Our results are...
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2019
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Online Access: | http://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3034461/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-018-4151-1 |
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ftunivliverpool:oai:livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk:3034461 2023-05-15T17:25:20+02:00 The role of local sea surface temperature pattern changes in shaping climate change in the North Atlantic sector Hand, Ralf Keenlyside, Noel S Omrani, Nour-Eddine Bader, Juergen Greatbatch, Richard J 2019 http://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3034461/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-018-4151-1 en eng Springer Science and Business Media LLC Hand, Ralf, Keenlyside, Noel S, Omrani, Nour-Eddine, Bader, Juergen and Greatbatch, Richard J (2019) The role of local sea surface temperature pattern changes in shaping climate change in the North Atlantic sector. CLIMATE DYNAMICS, 52 (1-2). pp. 417-438. Article NonPeerReviewed 2019 ftunivliverpool https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-018-4151-1 2023-01-19T23:35:45Z Beside its global effects, climate change is manifested in many regionally pronounced features mainly resulting from changes in the oceanic and atmospheric circulation. Here we investigate the influence of the North Atlantic SST on shaping the winter-time response to global warming. Our results are based on a long-term climate projection with the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM) to investigate the influence of North Atlantic sea surface temperature pattern changes on shaping the atmospheric climate change signal. In sensitivity experiments with the model’s atmospheric component we decompose the response into components controlled by the local SST structure and components controlled by global/remote changes. MPI-ESM simulates a global warming response in SST similar to other climate models: there is a warming minimum—or ”warming hole”—in the subpolar North Atlantic, and the sharp SST gradients associated with the Gulf Stream and the North Atlantic Current shift northward by a few a degrees. Over the warming hole, global warming causes a relatively weak increase in rainfall. Beyond this, our experiments show more localized effects, likely resulting from future SST gradient changes in the North Atlantic. This includes a significant precipitation decrease to the south of the Gulf Stream despite increased underlying SSTs. Since this region is characterised by a strong band of precipitation in the current climate, this is contrary to the usual case that wet regions become wetter and dry regions become drier in a warmer climate. A moisture budget analysis identifies a complex interplay of various processes in the region of modified SST gradients: reduced surface winds cause a decrease in evaporation; and thermodynamic, modified atmospheric eddy transports, and coastal processes cause a change in the moisture convergence. The changes in the the North Atlantic storm track are mainly controlled by the non-regional changes in the forcing. The impact of the local SST pattern changes on regions outside the ... Article in Journal/Newspaper north atlantic current North Atlantic The University of Liverpool Repository Climate Dynamics 52 1-2 417 438 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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The University of Liverpool Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivliverpool |
language |
English |
description |
Beside its global effects, climate change is manifested in many regionally pronounced features mainly resulting from changes in the oceanic and atmospheric circulation. Here we investigate the influence of the North Atlantic SST on shaping the winter-time response to global warming. Our results are based on a long-term climate projection with the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM) to investigate the influence of North Atlantic sea surface temperature pattern changes on shaping the atmospheric climate change signal. In sensitivity experiments with the model’s atmospheric component we decompose the response into components controlled by the local SST structure and components controlled by global/remote changes. MPI-ESM simulates a global warming response in SST similar to other climate models: there is a warming minimum—or ”warming hole”—in the subpolar North Atlantic, and the sharp SST gradients associated with the Gulf Stream and the North Atlantic Current shift northward by a few a degrees. Over the warming hole, global warming causes a relatively weak increase in rainfall. Beyond this, our experiments show more localized effects, likely resulting from future SST gradient changes in the North Atlantic. This includes a significant precipitation decrease to the south of the Gulf Stream despite increased underlying SSTs. Since this region is characterised by a strong band of precipitation in the current climate, this is contrary to the usual case that wet regions become wetter and dry regions become drier in a warmer climate. A moisture budget analysis identifies a complex interplay of various processes in the region of modified SST gradients: reduced surface winds cause a decrease in evaporation; and thermodynamic, modified atmospheric eddy transports, and coastal processes cause a change in the moisture convergence. The changes in the the North Atlantic storm track are mainly controlled by the non-regional changes in the forcing. The impact of the local SST pattern changes on regions outside the ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hand, Ralf Keenlyside, Noel S Omrani, Nour-Eddine Bader, Juergen Greatbatch, Richard J |
spellingShingle |
Hand, Ralf Keenlyside, Noel S Omrani, Nour-Eddine Bader, Juergen Greatbatch, Richard J The role of local sea surface temperature pattern changes in shaping climate change in the North Atlantic sector |
author_facet |
Hand, Ralf Keenlyside, Noel S Omrani, Nour-Eddine Bader, Juergen Greatbatch, Richard J |
author_sort |
Hand, Ralf |
title |
The role of local sea surface temperature pattern changes in shaping climate change in the North Atlantic sector |
title_short |
The role of local sea surface temperature pattern changes in shaping climate change in the North Atlantic sector |
title_full |
The role of local sea surface temperature pattern changes in shaping climate change in the North Atlantic sector |
title_fullStr |
The role of local sea surface temperature pattern changes in shaping climate change in the North Atlantic sector |
title_full_unstemmed |
The role of local sea surface temperature pattern changes in shaping climate change in the North Atlantic sector |
title_sort |
role of local sea surface temperature pattern changes in shaping climate change in the north atlantic sector |
publisher |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3034461/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-018-4151-1 |
genre |
north atlantic current North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
north atlantic current North Atlantic |
op_relation |
Hand, Ralf, Keenlyside, Noel S, Omrani, Nour-Eddine, Bader, Juergen and Greatbatch, Richard J (2019) The role of local sea surface temperature pattern changes in shaping climate change in the North Atlantic sector. CLIMATE DYNAMICS, 52 (1-2). pp. 417-438. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-018-4151-1 |
container_title |
Climate Dynamics |
container_volume |
52 |
container_issue |
1-2 |
container_start_page |
417 |
op_container_end_page |
438 |
_version_ |
1766116739477667840 |