Schaeffer, M
Selten, FM
Opsteegh, JD
Goosse, Hugues
[UCL]
The mean state and variability of deep convection in the ocean influence the North Atlantic climate. Using an ensemble experiment with a coupled atmosphere-ocean-sea ice model, it is shown that cooling and subdued warming areas can occur over the North Atlantic Ocean and adjacent landmasses under global warming. Different "present-day" convection patterns in the Greenland-Iceland-Norway (GIN) Sea result in different future surface-air temperature changes. At higher latitudes, the more effective positive sea ice feedback increases the likelihood of changes in convection causing a regional cooling that is larger than the warming brought about by the enhanced greenhouse effect. The modeled freshening of deep ocean layers in the North Atlantic in a time period preceding a reorganization of GIN Sea convection is consistent with recent observations. Low-frequency internal variability in the ocean model has relatively little impact on the response patterns.
Bibliographic reference |
Schaeffer, M ; Selten, FM ; Opsteegh, JD ; Goosse, Hugues. The influence of ocean convection patterns on high-latitude climate projections. In: Journal of Climate, Vol. 17, no. 22, p. 4316-4329 (2004) |
Permanent URL |
http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/39855 |