On the relationship between Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown and global surface warming
According to established understanding, deep-water formation in the North Atlantic and Southern Ocean keeps the deep ocean cold, counter-acting the downward mixing of heat from the warmer surface waters in the bulk of the world ocean. Therefore, periods of strong Atlantic meridional overturning circ...
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ftunivmaynooth:oai:mural.maynoothuniversity.ie:15746 2023-05-15T17:32:48+02:00 On the relationship between Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown and global surface warming Caesar, Levke Rahmstorf, S Feulner, G 2020-01-20 text https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/15746/ https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/15746/1/LevkeCaesar2020.pdf en eng IOP Publishing https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/15746/1/LevkeCaesar2020.pdf Caesar, Levke and Rahmstorf, S and Feulner, G (2020) On the relationship between Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown and global surface warming. Environmental Research Letters, 15 (2). 024003. ISSN 1748-9326 Article NonPeerReviewed 2020 ftunivmaynooth 2022-06-13T18:49:14Z According to established understanding, deep-water formation in the North Atlantic and Southern Ocean keeps the deep ocean cold, counter-acting the downward mixing of heat from the warmer surface waters in the bulk of the world ocean. Therefore, periods of strong Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) are expected to coincide with cooling of the deep ocean and warming of the surface waters. It has recently been proposed that this relation may have reversed due to global warming, and that during the past decades a strong AMOC coincides with warming of the deep ocean and relative cooling of the surface, by transporting increasingly warmer waters downward. Here we present multiple lines of evidence, including a statistical evaluation of the observed global mean temperature, ocean heat content, and different AMOC proxies, that lead to the opposite conclusion: even during the current ongoing global temperature rise a strong AMOC warms the surface. The observed weakening of the AMOC has therefore delayed global surface warming rather than enhancing it Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Southern Ocean Maynooth University ePrints and eTheses Archive (National University of Ireland) Southern Ocean |
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Maynooth University ePrints and eTheses Archive (National University of Ireland) |
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ftunivmaynooth |
language |
English |
description |
According to established understanding, deep-water formation in the North Atlantic and Southern Ocean keeps the deep ocean cold, counter-acting the downward mixing of heat from the warmer surface waters in the bulk of the world ocean. Therefore, periods of strong Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) are expected to coincide with cooling of the deep ocean and warming of the surface waters. It has recently been proposed that this relation may have reversed due to global warming, and that during the past decades a strong AMOC coincides with warming of the deep ocean and relative cooling of the surface, by transporting increasingly warmer waters downward. Here we present multiple lines of evidence, including a statistical evaluation of the observed global mean temperature, ocean heat content, and different AMOC proxies, that lead to the opposite conclusion: even during the current ongoing global temperature rise a strong AMOC warms the surface. The observed weakening of the AMOC has therefore delayed global surface warming rather than enhancing it |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Caesar, Levke Rahmstorf, S Feulner, G |
spellingShingle |
Caesar, Levke Rahmstorf, S Feulner, G On the relationship between Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown and global surface warming |
author_facet |
Caesar, Levke Rahmstorf, S Feulner, G |
author_sort |
Caesar, Levke |
title |
On the relationship between Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown and global surface warming |
title_short |
On the relationship between Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown and global surface warming |
title_full |
On the relationship between Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown and global surface warming |
title_fullStr |
On the relationship between Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown and global surface warming |
title_full_unstemmed |
On the relationship between Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown and global surface warming |
title_sort |
on the relationship between atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown and global surface warming |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/15746/ https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/15746/1/LevkeCaesar2020.pdf |
geographic |
Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean |
genre |
North Atlantic Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/15746/1/LevkeCaesar2020.pdf Caesar, Levke and Rahmstorf, S and Feulner, G (2020) On the relationship between Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowdown and global surface warming. Environmental Research Letters, 15 (2). 024003. ISSN 1748-9326 |
_version_ |
1766131081440919552 |