scholarly journals Kinetic energy analysis of the response of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation to CO2-forced climate change

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 893-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Gregory ◽  
R. Tailleux
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Energy Analysis ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning

scholarly journals Sensitivity of Climate Change Induced by the Weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation to Cloud Feedback

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 378-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rong Zhang ◽  
Sarah M. Kang ◽  
Isaac M. Held
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Coupled Model ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Cloud Feedback ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Low Cloud ◽  
Meridional Overturning

Abstract A variety of observational and modeling studies show that changes in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) can induce rapid global-scale climate change. In particular, a substantially weakened AMOC leads to a southward shift of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. However, the simulated amplitudes of the AMOC-induced tropical climate change differ substantially among different models. In this paper, the sensitivity to cloud feedback of the climate response to a change in the AMOC is studied using a coupled ocean–atmosphere model [the GFDL Coupled Model, version 2.1 (CM2.1)]. Without cloud feedback, the simulated AMOC-induced climate change in this model is weakened substantially. Low-cloud feedback has a strong amplifying impact on the tropical ITCZ shift in this model, whereas the effects of high-cloud feedback are weaker. It is concluded that cloud feedback is an important contributor to the uncertainty in the global response to AMOC changes.

Expert judgements on the response of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation to climate change

2007 ◽  
Vol 82 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 235-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten Zickfeld ◽  
Anders Levermann ◽  
M. Granger Morgan ◽  
Till Kuhlbrodt ◽  
Stefan Rahmstorf ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning

scholarly journals Influence of the Southern Annular Mode on Projected Weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (20) ◽  
pp. 8017-8036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter T. Spooner ◽  
Helen L. Johnson ◽  
Tim J. Woollings
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Southern Annular Mode ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Annular Mode ◽  
Meridional Overturning

Abstract Coupled climate models predict density-driven weakening of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) under greenhouse gas forcing, with considerable spread in the response between models. There is also a large spread in the predicted increase of the southern annular mode (SAM) index across these models. Regression analysis across model space using 11 non-eddy-resolving models suggests that up to 35% of the intermodel spread in the AMOC response may be associated with uncertainty in the magnitude of the increase in the SAM. Models with a large, positive SAM index response generally display a smaller weakening of the AMOC under greenhouse gas forcing. The initial AMOC strength is also a major cause of intermodel spread in its response to climate change. The increase in the SAM acts to reduce the weakening of the AMOC over the next century by around ⅓, through increases in wind stress over the Southern Ocean, northward Ekman transport, and upwelling around Antarctica. The SAM response is also related to an increase in the northward salt flux across 30°S and to salinity anomalies in the high-latitude North Atlantic. These provide a positive feedback by further reinforcement of the AMOC. The results suggest that, compared with the real ocean where eddies oppose wind-driven changes in Southern Ocean circulation, climate models underestimate the effects of anthropogenic climate change on the AMOC.

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