scholarly journals Deep ocean heat uptake as a major source of spread in transient climate change simulations

2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (22) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Boé ◽  
A. Hall ◽  
X. Qu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Ocean Heat Uptake ◽  
Heat Uptake ◽  
Transient Climate Change

Ocean Heat Uptake in Transient Climate Change: Mechanisms and Uncertainty due to Subgrid-Scale Eddy Mixing

2003 ◽  
Vol 16 (20) ◽  
pp. 3344-3356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boyin Huang ◽  
Peter H. Stone ◽  
Andrei P. Sokolov ◽  
Igor V. Kamenkovich
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Subgrid Scale ◽  
Ocean Heat Uptake ◽  
Heat Uptake ◽  
Transient Climate Change ◽  
Change Mechanisms

Comparing Oceanic Heat Uptake in AOGCM Transient Climate Change Experiments

2003 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. 1573-1582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrei P. Sokolov ◽  
Chris E. Forest ◽  
Peter H. Stone
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Large Uncertainty ◽  
Climate Record ◽  
Ocean General Circulation Models ◽  
Heat Uptake ◽  
Transient Climate Change

Abstract The transient response of both surface air temperature and deep ocean temperature to an increasing external forcing strongly depends on climate sensitivity and the rate of the heat mixing into the deep ocean, estimates for both of which have large uncertainty. In this paper a method for estimating rates of oceanic heat uptake for coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation models from results of transient climate change simulations is described. For models considered in this study, the estimates vary by a factor of 2½. Nevertheless, values of oceanic heat uptake for all models fall in the range implied by the climate record for the last century. It is worth noting that the range of the model values is narrower than that consistent with observations and thus does not provide a full measure of the uncertainty in the rate of oceanic heat uptake.

Importance of oceanic heat uptake in transient climate change

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (17) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald J. Stouffer ◽  
Joellen Russell ◽  
Michael J. Spelman
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heat Uptake ◽  
Transient Climate Change

Model-based evidence of deep-ocean heat uptake during surface-temperature hiatus periods

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (7) ◽  
pp. 360-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald A. Meehl ◽  
Julie M. Arblaster ◽  
John T. Fasullo ◽  
Aixue Hu ◽  
Kevin E. Trenberth
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Ocean Heat Uptake ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Heat Uptake

Sensitivity of the Ocean’s Climate to Diapycnal Diffusivity in an EMIC. Part II: Global Warming Scenario

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (13) ◽  
pp. 2482-2496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Dalan ◽  
Peter H. Stone ◽  
Andrei P. Sokolov
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Thermohaline Circulation ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Diffusive Flux ◽  
Ocean Heat Uptake ◽  
Advective Flux ◽  
Warming Scenario ◽  
Heat Uptake ◽  
Global Warming Scenario ◽  
Diapycnal Diffusivity

Abstract The sensitivity of the ocean’s climate to the diapycnal diffusivity in the ocean is studied for a global warming scenario in which CO2 increases by 1% yr−1 for 75 yr. The thermohaline circulation slows down for about 100 yr and recovers afterward, for any value of the diapycnal diffusivity. The rates of slowdown and of recovery, as well as the percentage recovery of the circulation at the end of 1000-yr integrations, are variable, but a direct relation with the diapycnal diffusivity cannot be found. At year 70 (when CO2 has doubled) an increase of the diapycnal diffusivity from 0.1 to 1.0 cm2 s−1 leads to a decrease in surface air temperature of about 0.4 K and an increase in sea level rise of about 4 cm. The steric height gradient is divided into thermal component and haline component. It appears that, in the first 60 yr of simulated global warming, temperature variations dominate the salinity ones in weakly diffusive models, whereas the opposite occurs in strongly diffusive models. The analysis of the vertical heat balance reveals that deep-ocean heat uptake is due to reduced upward isopycnal diffusive flux and parameterized-eddy advective flux. Surface warming, induced by enhanced CO2 in the atmosphere, leads to a reduction of the isopycnal slope, which translates into a reduction of the above fluxes. The amount of reduction is directly related to the magnitude of the isopycnal diffusive flux and parameterized-eddy advective flux at equilibrium. These latter fluxes depend on the thickness of the thermocline at equilibrium and hence on the diapycnal diffusion. Thus, the increase of deep-ocean heat uptake with diapycnal diffusivity is an indirect effect that the latter parameter has on the isopycnal diffusion and parameterized-eddy advection.

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