scholarly journals California Coastal - Cooling a Reverse Reaction from Global Warming General Circulation and Mesoscale Effects

Author(s):  
Bereket Lebassi-Habtezion ◽  
Jorge Gonzalez ◽  
Robert Bornstei
2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (24) ◽  
pp. 9125-9139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeline Bichet ◽  
Paul J. Kushner ◽  
Lawrence Mudryk

Abstract Better constraining the continental climate response to anthropogenic forcing is essential to improve climate projections. In this study, pattern scaling is used to extract, from observations, the patterned response of sea surface temperature (SST) and sea ice concentration (SICE) to anthropogenically dominated long-term global warming. The SST response pattern includes a warming of the tropical Indian Ocean, the high northern latitudes, and the western boundary currents. The SICE pattern shows seasonal variations of the main locations of sea ice loss. These SST–SICE response patterns are used to drive an ensemble of an atmospheric general circulation model, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Atmosphere Model, version 5 (CAM5), over the period 1980–2010 along with a standard AMIP ensemble using observed SST—SICE. The simulations enable attribution of a variety of observed trends of continental climate to global warming. On the one hand, the warming trends observed in all seasons across the entire Northern Hemisphere extratropics result from global warming, as does the snow loss observed over the northern midlatitudes and northwestern Eurasia. On the other hand, 1980–2010 precipitation trends observed in winter over North America and in summer over Africa result from the recent decreasing phase of the Pacific decadal oscillation and the recent increasing phase of the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation, respectively, which are not part of the global warming signal. The method holds promise for near-term decadal climate prediction but as currently framed cannot distinguish regional signals associated with oceanic internal variability from aerosol forcing and other sources of short-term forcing.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daichi Takabatake ◽  
Masaru Inatsu

Abstract We analyzed a large ensemble dataset called the database for Policy Decision Making for Future climate change (d4PDF), which contains 60-km resolution atmospheric general circulation model output and 20-km resolution dynamical downscaling for the Japanese domain. The increase in moisture and precipitation, and their global warming response in June–July–August were described focusing on the differences between Hokkaido and Kyushu. The results suggested that the specific humidity increased almost following the Clausius Clapeyron relation, but the change in stationary circulation suppressed the precipitation increase, except for in western Kyushu. The + 4 K climate in Hokkaido would be as hot and humid as the present climate in Kyushu. The circulation change related to the southward shift of the jet stream and an eastward shift of the Bonin high weakened the moisture flux convergence via a stationary field over central Japan including eastern Kyushu. The transient eddy activity counteracted the increase in humidity, so that the moisture flux convergence and precipitation did not change much over Hokkaido. Because the contribution of tropical cyclones to the total precipitation was at most 10%, the decrease in the number of tropical cyclones did not explain the predicted change in precipitation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (13) ◽  
pp. 4163-4180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akitomo Yamamoto ◽  
Ayako Abe-Ouchi ◽  
Yasuhiro Yamanaka

Abstract. Global warming is expected to significantly decrease oceanic carbon uptake and therefore increase atmospheric CO2 and global warming. The primary reasons given in previous studies for such changes in the oceanic carbon uptake are the solubility reduction due to seawater warming and changes in the ocean circulation and biological pump. However, the quantitative contributions of different processes to the overall reduction in ocean uptake are still unclear. In this study, we investigated multi-millennium responses of oceanic carbon uptake to global warming and quantified the contributions of the physical and biological pumps to these responses using an atmosphere–ocean general circulation model and a biogeochemical model. We found that global warming reduced oceanic CO2 uptake by 13 % (30 %) in the first 140 years (after 2000 model years), consistent with previous studies. Our sensitivity experiments showed that this reduction is primarily driven by changes in the organic matter cycle via ocean circulation change and solubility change due to seawater warming. These results differ from most previous studies, in which circulation changes and solubility change from seawater warming are the dominant processes. The weakening of biological production and carbon export induced by circulation change and lower nutrient supply, diminishes the vertical DIC gradient and substantially reduces the CO2 uptake. The weaker deep-ocean circulation decreases the downward transport of CO2 from the surface to the deep ocean, leading to a drop in CO2 uptake in high-latitude regions. Conversely, weaker equatorial upwelling reduces the upward transport of natural CO2 and therefore enhances the CO2 uptake in low-latitude regions. Because these effects cancel each other out, circulation change plays only a small direct role in the reduction of CO2 uptake due to global warming but a large indirect role through nutrient transport and biological processes.


2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pentapati Satyavathi ◽  
Makarand C. Deo ◽  
Jyoti Kerkar ◽  
Ponnumony Vethamony

AbstractKnowledge of design waves with long return periods forms an essential input to many engineering applications, including structural design and analysis. Such extreme or long-term waves are conventionally evaluated using observed or hindcast historical wave data. Globally, waves are expected to undergo future changes in magnitude and behavior as a result of climate change induced by global warming. Considering future climate change, this study attempts to reevaluate significant wave height (Hs) as well as average spectral wave period (Tz) with a return period of 100 years for a series of locations along the western Indian coastline. Historical waves are simulated using a numerical wave model forced by wind data extracted from the archives of the National Center for Environmental Prediction and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, while future wave data are generated by a state-of-the-art Canadian general circulation model. A statistical extreme value analysis of past and projected wave data carried out with the help of the generalized Pareto distribution showed an increase in 100-year Hs and Tz along the Indian coastline, pointing out the necessity to reconsider the safety of offshore structures in the light of global warming.


2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (8) ◽  
pp. 2272-2287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chihiro Kodama ◽  
Toshiki Iwasaki

Abstract The influence of the sea surface temperature (SST) rise on extratropical baroclinic instability wave activity is investigated using an aquaplanet general circulation model (GCM). Two types of runs were performed: the High+3 run, in which the SST is increased by 3 K only at high latitudes, and the All+3 run, in which the SST is increased uniformly by 3 K all over the globe. These SST rises were intended to reproduce essential changes of the surface air temperature due to global warming. Wave activity changes are analyzed and discussed from the viewpoint of the energetics. In the High+3 run, midlatitude meridional temperature gradient is decreased in the lower troposphere and the wave energy is suppressed in the extratropics. In the All+3 run, although the large tropical latent heat release greatly enhances the midlatitude meridional temperature gradient in the upper troposphere, global mean wave energy does not change significantly. These results suggest that the low-level baroclinicity is much more important for baroclinic instability wave activity than upper-level baroclinicity. A poleward shift of wave energy, seen in global warming simulations, is evident in the All+3 run. Wave energy generation analysis suggests that the poleward shift of wave activity may be caused by the enhanced and poleward-shifted baroclinicity in the higher latitudes and the increased static stability in the lower latitudes. Poleward expansion of the high-baroclinicity region is still an open question.


2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 1240-1253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Tong Zheng ◽  
Shang-Ping Xie ◽  
Gabriel A. Vecchi ◽  
Qinyu Liu ◽  
Jan Hafner

Abstract Low-frequency modulation and change under global warming of the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) mode are investigated with a pair of multicentury integrations of a coupled ocean–atmosphere general circulation model: one under constant climate forcing and one forced by increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. In the unforced simulation, there is significant decadal and multidecadal modulation of the IOD variance. The mean thermocline depth in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean (EEIO) is important for the slow modulation, skewness, and ENSO correlation of the IOD. With a shoaling (deepening) of the EEIO thermocline, the thermocline feedback strengthens, and this leads to an increase in IOD variance, a reduction of the negative skewness of the IOD, and a weakening of the IOD–ENSO correlation. In response to increasing greenhouse gases, a weakening of the Walker circulation leads to easterly wind anomalies in the equatorial Indian Ocean; the oceanic response to weakened circulation is a thermocline shoaling in the EEIO. Under greenhouse forcing, the thermocline feedback intensifies, but surprisingly IOD variance does not. The zonal wind anomalies associated with IOD are found to weaken, likely due to increased static stability of the troposphere from global warming. Linear model experiments confirm this stability effect to reduce circulation response to a sea surface temperature dipole. The opposing changes in thermocline and atmospheric feedbacks result in little change in IOD variance, but the shoaling thermocline weakens IOD skewness. Little change under global warming in IOD variance in the model suggests that the apparent intensification of IOD activity during recent decades is likely part of natural, chaotic modulation of the ocean–atmosphere system or the response to nongreenhouse gas radiative changes.


2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (17) ◽  
pp. 4207-4223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chia Chou ◽  
J. David Neelin ◽  
Jien-Yi Tu ◽  
Cheng-Ta Chen

Abstract Mechanisms of global warming impacts on regional tropical precipitation are examined in a coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation model (ECHAM4/OPYC3). The pattern of the regional tropical precipitation changes, once established, tends to persist, growing in magnitude as greenhouse gases increase. The sulfate aerosol induces regional tropical precipitation anomalies similar to the greenhouse gases but with opposite sign, thus reducing the early signal. Evidence for two main mechanisms, the upped-ante and the anomalous gross moist stability (M′) mechanisms (previously proposed in an intermediate complexity model), is found in this more comprehensive coupled general circulation model. Preferential moisture increase occurs in convection zones. The upped-ante mechanism signature of dry advection from nonconvective regions is found in tropical drought regions on the margins of convection zones. Here advection in both the atmospheric boundary layer and lower free troposphere are found to be important, with an additional contribution from horizontal temperature transport in some locations. The signature of the M′ mechanism—moisture convergence due to increased moisture in regions of large mean vertical motion—enhances precipitation within strong convective regions. Ocean dynamical feedbacks can be assessed by net surface flux, the main example being the El Niño–like shift of the equatorial Pacific convection zone. Cloud–radiative feedbacks are found to oppose precipitation anomalies over ocean regions.


2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 2979-2994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Ma ◽  
Shang-Ping Xie ◽  
Yu Kosaka

Abstract The annual-mean tropospheric circulation change in global warming is studied by comparing the response of an atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) to a spatial-uniform sea surface temperature (SST) increase (SUSI) with the response of a coupled ocean–atmosphere GCM to increased greenhouse gas concentrations following the A1B scenario. In both simulations, tropospheric warming follows the moist adiabat in the tropics, and static stability increases globally in response to SST warming. A diagnostic framework is developed based on a linear baroclinic model (LBM) of the atmosphere. The mean advection of stratification change (MASC) by climatological vertical motion, often neglected in interannual variability, is an important thermodynamic term for global warming. Once MASC effect is included, LBM shows skills in reproducing GCM results by prescribing latent heating diagnosed from the GCMs. MASC acts to slow down the tropical circulation. This is most clear in the SUSI run where the Walker circulation slows down over the Pacific without any change in SST gradient. MASC is used to decelerate the Hadley circulation, but spatial patterns of SST warming play an important role. Specifically, the SST warming is greater in the Northern than Southern Hemisphere, an interhemispheric asymmetry that decelerates the Hadley cell north, but accelerates it south of the equator. The MASC and SST-pattern effects are on the same order of magnitude in our LBM simulations. The former is presumably comparable across GCMs, while SST warming patterns show variations among models in both shape and magnitude. Uncertainties in SST patterns account for intermodel variability in Hadley circulation response to global warming (especially on and south of the equator).


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