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- Author or Editor: Paul J. Kushner x
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Abstract
In this study, coupled ocean–atmosphere–land–sea ice Earth system model (ESM) simulations driven separately by sea ice albedo reduction and by projected greenhouse-dominated radiative forcing are combined to cleanly isolate the sea ice loss response of the atmospheric circulation. A pattern scaling approach is proposed in which the local multidecadal mean atmospheric response is assumed to be separately proportional to the total sea ice loss and to the total low-latitude ocean surface warming. The proposed approach estimates the response to Arctic sea ice loss with low-latitude ocean temperatures fixed and vice versa. The sea ice response includes a high northern latitude easterly zonal wind response, an equatorward shift of the eddy-driven jet, a weakening of the stratospheric polar vortex, an anticyclonic sea level pressure anomaly over coastal Eurasia, a cyclonic sea level pressure anomaly over the North Pacific, and increased wintertime precipitation over the west coast of North America. Many of these responses are opposed by the response to low-latitude surface warming with sea ice fixed. However, both sea ice loss and low-latitude surface warming act in concert to reduce subseasonal temperature variability throughout the middle and high latitudes. The responses are similar in two related versions of the National Center for Atmospheric Research Earth system models, apart from the stratospheric polar vortex response. Evidence is presented that internal variability can easily contaminate the estimates if not enough independent climate states are used to construct them.
Abstract
In this study, coupled ocean–atmosphere–land–sea ice Earth system model (ESM) simulations driven separately by sea ice albedo reduction and by projected greenhouse-dominated radiative forcing are combined to cleanly isolate the sea ice loss response of the atmospheric circulation. A pattern scaling approach is proposed in which the local multidecadal mean atmospheric response is assumed to be separately proportional to the total sea ice loss and to the total low-latitude ocean surface warming. The proposed approach estimates the response to Arctic sea ice loss with low-latitude ocean temperatures fixed and vice versa. The sea ice response includes a high northern latitude easterly zonal wind response, an equatorward shift of the eddy-driven jet, a weakening of the stratospheric polar vortex, an anticyclonic sea level pressure anomaly over coastal Eurasia, a cyclonic sea level pressure anomaly over the North Pacific, and increased wintertime precipitation over the west coast of North America. Many of these responses are opposed by the response to low-latitude surface warming with sea ice fixed. However, both sea ice loss and low-latitude surface warming act in concert to reduce subseasonal temperature variability throughout the middle and high latitudes. The responses are similar in two related versions of the National Center for Atmospheric Research Earth system models, apart from the stratospheric polar vortex response. Evidence is presented that internal variability can easily contaminate the estimates if not enough independent climate states are used to construct them.
Abstract
The role of extratropical ocean warming in the coupled climate response to Arctic sea ice loss is investigated using coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation model (AOGCM) and uncoupled atmospheric-only (AGCM) experiments. Coupled AOGCM experiments driven by sea ice albedo reduction and greenhouse gas–dominated radiative forcing are used to diagnose the extratropical sea surface temperature (SST) response to sea ice loss. Sea ice loss is then imposed in AGCM experiments both with and without these extratropical SST changes, which are found to extend beyond the regions where sea ice is lost. Sea ice loss in isolation drives warming that is confined to the Arctic lower troposphere and only a weak atmospheric circulation response. When the extratropical SST response caused by sea ice loss is also included in the forcing, the warming extends into the Arctic midtroposphere during winter. This coincides with a stronger atmospheric circulation response, including an equatorward shift in the eddy-driven jet, a deepening of the Aleutian low, and an expansion of the Siberian high. Similar results are found whether the extratropical SST forcing is taken directly from the AOGCM driven by sea ice loss, or whether they are diagnosed using a two-parameter pattern scaling technique where tropical adjustment to sea ice loss is removed. These results suggest that AGCM experiments that are driven by sea ice loss and only local SST increases will underestimate the Arctic midtroposphere warming and atmospheric circulation response to sea ice loss, compared to AOGCM simulations and the real world.
Abstract
The role of extratropical ocean warming in the coupled climate response to Arctic sea ice loss is investigated using coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation model (AOGCM) and uncoupled atmospheric-only (AGCM) experiments. Coupled AOGCM experiments driven by sea ice albedo reduction and greenhouse gas–dominated radiative forcing are used to diagnose the extratropical sea surface temperature (SST) response to sea ice loss. Sea ice loss is then imposed in AGCM experiments both with and without these extratropical SST changes, which are found to extend beyond the regions where sea ice is lost. Sea ice loss in isolation drives warming that is confined to the Arctic lower troposphere and only a weak atmospheric circulation response. When the extratropical SST response caused by sea ice loss is also included in the forcing, the warming extends into the Arctic midtroposphere during winter. This coincides with a stronger atmospheric circulation response, including an equatorward shift in the eddy-driven jet, a deepening of the Aleutian low, and an expansion of the Siberian high. Similar results are found whether the extratropical SST forcing is taken directly from the AOGCM driven by sea ice loss, or whether they are diagnosed using a two-parameter pattern scaling technique where tropical adjustment to sea ice loss is removed. These results suggest that AGCM experiments that are driven by sea ice loss and only local SST increases will underestimate the Arctic midtroposphere warming and atmospheric circulation response to sea ice loss, compared to AOGCM simulations and the real world.
Abstract
Stationary wave nonlinearity describes the self-interaction of stationary waves and is important in maintaining the zonally asymmetric atmospheric general circulation. However, the dynamics of stationary wave nonlinearity, which is often calculated explicitly in stationary wave models, is not well understood. Stationary wave nonlinearity is examined here in the simplified setting of the response to localized topographic forcing in quasigeostrophic barotropic dynamics in the presence and absence of transient eddies. It is shown that stationary wave nonlinearity accounts for most of the difference between the linear and full nonlinear response, particularly if the adjustment of the zonal-mean flow to the stationary waves is taken into account. The separate impact of transient eddy forcing is also quantified. Wave activity analysis shows that stationary wave nonlinearity in this setting is associated with Rossby wave critical layer reflection. A nonlinear stationary wave model, similar to those used in baroclinic stationary wave model studies, is also tested and is shown to capture the basic features of the full nonlinear stationary wave solution.
Abstract
Stationary wave nonlinearity describes the self-interaction of stationary waves and is important in maintaining the zonally asymmetric atmospheric general circulation. However, the dynamics of stationary wave nonlinearity, which is often calculated explicitly in stationary wave models, is not well understood. Stationary wave nonlinearity is examined here in the simplified setting of the response to localized topographic forcing in quasigeostrophic barotropic dynamics in the presence and absence of transient eddies. It is shown that stationary wave nonlinearity accounts for most of the difference between the linear and full nonlinear response, particularly if the adjustment of the zonal-mean flow to the stationary waves is taken into account. The separate impact of transient eddy forcing is also quantified. Wave activity analysis shows that stationary wave nonlinearity in this setting is associated with Rossby wave critical layer reflection. A nonlinear stationary wave model, similar to those used in baroclinic stationary wave model studies, is also tested and is shown to capture the basic features of the full nonlinear stationary wave solution.
Abstract
The impact that disappearing Arctic sea ice will have on the atmospheric circulation and weather variability remains uncertain. In this study, results are presented from a sea ice perturbation experiment using the coupled Community Climate System Model, version 4 (CCSM4). By decreasing the albedo of the sea ice, the impact of an ice-free summertime Arctic on the coupled ocean–atmosphere system is isolated in an idealized but energetically self-consistent way. The multicentury equilibrium response is examined, as well as the transient response in an initial condition ensemble. The perturbation drives pronounced year-round sea ice thinning, Arctic warming, Arctic amplification, and moderate global warming. Even in the almost complete absence of summertime sea ice, the atmospheric general circulation response is very weak and the transient response is small compared to the internal variability. Surface temperature variability is reduced on all time scales over most of the middle and high latitudes with a 50% reduction in the standard deviation of temperature over the Arctic Ocean. The reduction is attributed to decreased temperature gradients and increased maritime influence once the sea ice melts. This reduced variability extends weakly into the variability of the midlatitude and free tropospheric geopotential height (less than 10% reduction in the standard deviation). Consistently, eddy geopotential height variability is found to decrease while geopotential isopleth meandering, which reflects Arctic amplified warming, increases moderately. The sign of these changes is consistent with recent observations, but the size of these changes is relatively small.
Abstract
The impact that disappearing Arctic sea ice will have on the atmospheric circulation and weather variability remains uncertain. In this study, results are presented from a sea ice perturbation experiment using the coupled Community Climate System Model, version 4 (CCSM4). By decreasing the albedo of the sea ice, the impact of an ice-free summertime Arctic on the coupled ocean–atmosphere system is isolated in an idealized but energetically self-consistent way. The multicentury equilibrium response is examined, as well as the transient response in an initial condition ensemble. The perturbation drives pronounced year-round sea ice thinning, Arctic warming, Arctic amplification, and moderate global warming. Even in the almost complete absence of summertime sea ice, the atmospheric general circulation response is very weak and the transient response is small compared to the internal variability. Surface temperature variability is reduced on all time scales over most of the middle and high latitudes with a 50% reduction in the standard deviation of temperature over the Arctic Ocean. The reduction is attributed to decreased temperature gradients and increased maritime influence once the sea ice melts. This reduced variability extends weakly into the variability of the midlatitude and free tropospheric geopotential height (less than 10% reduction in the standard deviation). Consistently, eddy geopotential height variability is found to decrease while geopotential isopleth meandering, which reflects Arctic amplified warming, increases moderately. The sign of these changes is consistent with recent observations, but the size of these changes is relatively small.
Abstract
In the circulating atmosphere, diabatic heating influences the potential temperature content of air masses far from where the heating occurs. Budgets that balance local diabatic sources with local heat divergence and storage do not retain information about this remote influence, which requires airmass tracking. In this study, a process-based, passive-tracer diagnostic, called heat tagging, is introduced. Heat tagging locally decomposes the potential temperature into contributions from the distinctive diabatic processes that generate them, wherever they occur. The distribution, variability, and transport of atmospheric heat tags are studied in the relatively simple setting of an idealized aquaplanet model. Heat tags from latent heating are generated in the deep tropics and the midlatitude storm track and then transported throughout the troposphere. By contrast, dry sensible heat tags are enhanced near the surface, and radiative tags are mainly confined to the stratosphere. As a result, local heat transport, variability of potential temperature, and global poleward heat transport are dominated by heat tags related to latent heating, with heat tags from sensible and radiative heating only making contributions in the polar near-surface and the stratosphere, respectively. Heat tagging thus quantifies how water vapor and latent heating link the structural characteristics of the atmosphere and illustrates the importance of the hydrological cycle in poleward energy transport.
Abstract
In the circulating atmosphere, diabatic heating influences the potential temperature content of air masses far from where the heating occurs. Budgets that balance local diabatic sources with local heat divergence and storage do not retain information about this remote influence, which requires airmass tracking. In this study, a process-based, passive-tracer diagnostic, called heat tagging, is introduced. Heat tagging locally decomposes the potential temperature into contributions from the distinctive diabatic processes that generate them, wherever they occur. The distribution, variability, and transport of atmospheric heat tags are studied in the relatively simple setting of an idealized aquaplanet model. Heat tags from latent heating are generated in the deep tropics and the midlatitude storm track and then transported throughout the troposphere. By contrast, dry sensible heat tags are enhanced near the surface, and radiative tags are mainly confined to the stratosphere. As a result, local heat transport, variability of potential temperature, and global poleward heat transport are dominated by heat tags related to latent heating, with heat tags from sensible and radiative heating only making contributions in the polar near-surface and the stratosphere, respectively. Heat tagging thus quantifies how water vapor and latent heating link the structural characteristics of the atmosphere and illustrates the importance of the hydrological cycle in poleward energy transport.
Abstract
The dynamics of late summer Arctic tropospheric heat content variability is studied using reanalyses. In both trends and interannual variability, much of the August heat content variability in the Arctic midtroposphere can be explained by the total—sensible plus latent—heat content variability at the midlatitude near surface in July. Climate models suggest that this connection is part of the global warming signal in September–November, but in reanalyses the connection is most strongly present in July–August variability and trends. It is argued that heat content signals are propagated from the midlatitude near surface to the Arctic midtroposphere approximately along climatological moist isentropes. High-frequency data reveal that the propagating signal is primarily driven by a few strong meridional heat flux events each summer season. Composite analysis on these events shows that August meridional heat fluxes into the Arctic midtroposphere are succeeded by positive heat content anomalies in the lower troposphere a few days later. This second connection between the Arctic midtroposphere and the Arctic lower troposphere could be sufficient to explain some of the recent Arctic 850-hPa temperature variability north of 75°N.
Abstract
The dynamics of late summer Arctic tropospheric heat content variability is studied using reanalyses. In both trends and interannual variability, much of the August heat content variability in the Arctic midtroposphere can be explained by the total—sensible plus latent—heat content variability at the midlatitude near surface in July. Climate models suggest that this connection is part of the global warming signal in September–November, but in reanalyses the connection is most strongly present in July–August variability and trends. It is argued that heat content signals are propagated from the midlatitude near surface to the Arctic midtroposphere approximately along climatological moist isentropes. High-frequency data reveal that the propagating signal is primarily driven by a few strong meridional heat flux events each summer season. Composite analysis on these events shows that August meridional heat fluxes into the Arctic midtroposphere are succeeded by positive heat content anomalies in the lower troposphere a few days later. This second connection between the Arctic midtroposphere and the Arctic lower troposphere could be sufficient to explain some of the recent Arctic 850-hPa temperature variability north of 75°N.
Abstract
A sector EOF analysis applied to the extratropical tropospheric circulation extracts robust circulation patterns that represent the regional signature of the annular modes. These regional patterns are eastward-propagating, long baroclinic wave structures with the dipolar meridional structure in the streamflow of the annular modes. The regional dipole patterns are also connected to the annular modes through their temporal correlation and their eddy flux signatures. These results serve to relate the hemispheric and the regional perspectives on the annular modes.
Abstract
A sector EOF analysis applied to the extratropical tropospheric circulation extracts robust circulation patterns that represent the regional signature of the annular modes. These regional patterns are eastward-propagating, long baroclinic wave structures with the dipolar meridional structure in the streamflow of the annular modes. The regional dipole patterns are also connected to the annular modes through their temporal correlation and their eddy flux signatures. These results serve to relate the hemispheric and the regional perspectives on the annular modes.
Abstract
The stationary wave response to global climate change in the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory's R30 coupled ocean–atmosphere GCM is studied. An ensemble of climate change simulations that use a standard prescription for time-dependent increases of greenhouse gas and sulfate aerosol concentrations is compared to a multiple-century control simulation with these constituents fixed at preindustrial levels. The primary response to climate change is to zonalize the atmospheric circulation, that is, to reduce the amplitude of the stationary waves in all seasons. This zonalization is particularly strong in the boreal summer over the Tropics. In January, changes in the stationary waves resemble that of an El Niño, and all months exhibit an El Niño–like increase of precipitation in the central tropical Pacific.
The dynamics of the stationary wave changes are studied with a linear stationary wave model, which is shown to simulate the stationary wave response to climate change remarkably well. The linear model is used to decompose the response into parts associated with changes to the zonal-mean basic state and with changes to the zonally asymmetric “forcings” such as diabatic heating and transient eddy fluxes. The decomposition reveals that at least as much of the climate change response is accounted for by the change to the zonal-mean basic state as by the change to the zonally asymmetric forcings. For the January response in the Pacific–North American sector, it is also found that the diabatic heating forcing contribution dominates the climate change response but is significantly cancelled and phase shifted by the transient eddy forcing. The importance of the zonal mean and of the diabatic heating forcing contrasts strongly with previous linear stationary wave models of the El Niño, despite the similarity of the January stationary wave response to El Niño. In particular, in El Niño, changes to the zonal-mean circulation contribute little to the stationary wave response, and the transient eddy forcing dominates. The conclusions from the linear stationary wave model apparently contradict previous findings on the stationary wave response to climate change response in a coarse-resolution version of this model.
Abstract
The stationary wave response to global climate change in the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory's R30 coupled ocean–atmosphere GCM is studied. An ensemble of climate change simulations that use a standard prescription for time-dependent increases of greenhouse gas and sulfate aerosol concentrations is compared to a multiple-century control simulation with these constituents fixed at preindustrial levels. The primary response to climate change is to zonalize the atmospheric circulation, that is, to reduce the amplitude of the stationary waves in all seasons. This zonalization is particularly strong in the boreal summer over the Tropics. In January, changes in the stationary waves resemble that of an El Niño, and all months exhibit an El Niño–like increase of precipitation in the central tropical Pacific.
The dynamics of the stationary wave changes are studied with a linear stationary wave model, which is shown to simulate the stationary wave response to climate change remarkably well. The linear model is used to decompose the response into parts associated with changes to the zonal-mean basic state and with changes to the zonally asymmetric “forcings” such as diabatic heating and transient eddy fluxes. The decomposition reveals that at least as much of the climate change response is accounted for by the change to the zonal-mean basic state as by the change to the zonally asymmetric forcings. For the January response in the Pacific–North American sector, it is also found that the diabatic heating forcing contribution dominates the climate change response but is significantly cancelled and phase shifted by the transient eddy forcing. The importance of the zonal mean and of the diabatic heating forcing contrasts strongly with previous linear stationary wave models of the El Niño, despite the similarity of the January stationary wave response to El Niño. In particular, in El Niño, changes to the zonal-mean circulation contribute little to the stationary wave response, and the transient eddy forcing dominates. The conclusions from the linear stationary wave model apparently contradict previous findings on the stationary wave response to climate change response in a coarse-resolution version of this model.
Abstract
The question of which statistical model best describes internal climate variability on interannual and longer time scales is essential to the ability to predict such variables and detect periodicities and trends in them. For over 30 yr the dominant model for background climate variability has been the autoregressive model of the first order (AR1). However, recent research has shown that some aspects of climate variability are best described by a “long memory” or “power-law” model. Such a model fits a temporal spectrum to a single power-law function, which thereby accumulates more power at lower frequencies than an AR1 fit. In this study, several power-law model estimators are applied to global temperature data from reanalysis products. The methods employed (the detrended fluctuation analysis, Geweke–Porter-Hudak estimator, Gaussian semiparametric estimator, and multitapered versions of the last two) agree well for pure power-law stochastic processes. However, for the observed temperature record, the power-law fits are sensitive to the choice of frequency range and the intrinsic filtering properties of the methods. The observational results converge once frequency ranges are made consistent and the lowest frequencies are included, and once several climate signals have been filtered. Two robust results emerge from the analysis: first, that the tropical circulation features relatively large power-law exponents that connect to the zonal-mean extratropical circulation; and second, that the subtropical lower stratosphere exhibits power-law behavior that is volcanically forced.
Abstract
The question of which statistical model best describes internal climate variability on interannual and longer time scales is essential to the ability to predict such variables and detect periodicities and trends in them. For over 30 yr the dominant model for background climate variability has been the autoregressive model of the first order (AR1). However, recent research has shown that some aspects of climate variability are best described by a “long memory” or “power-law” model. Such a model fits a temporal spectrum to a single power-law function, which thereby accumulates more power at lower frequencies than an AR1 fit. In this study, several power-law model estimators are applied to global temperature data from reanalysis products. The methods employed (the detrended fluctuation analysis, Geweke–Porter-Hudak estimator, Gaussian semiparametric estimator, and multitapered versions of the last two) agree well for pure power-law stochastic processes. However, for the observed temperature record, the power-law fits are sensitive to the choice of frequency range and the intrinsic filtering properties of the methods. The observational results converge once frequency ranges are made consistent and the lowest frequencies are included, and once several climate signals have been filtered. Two robust results emerge from the analysis: first, that the tropical circulation features relatively large power-law exponents that connect to the zonal-mean extratropical circulation; and second, that the subtropical lower stratosphere exhibits power-law behavior that is volcanically forced.
Abstract
Recent observational and modeling studies have demonstrated a link between eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (TPO) warming associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the negative phase of the wintertime northern annular mode (NAM). The TPO–NAM link involves a Rossby wave teleconnection from the tropics to the extratropics, and an increase in polar stratospheric wave driving that in turn induces a negative NAM anomaly in the stratosphere and troposphere. Previous work further suggests that tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) warming is associated with a positive NAM anomaly, which is of opposite sign to the TPO case. The TIO case is, however, difficult to interpret because the TPO and TIO warmings are not independent. To better understand the dynamics of tropical influences on the NAM, the current study investigates the NAM response to imposed TPO and TIO warmings in a general circulation model. The NAM responses to the two warmings have opposite sign and can be of surprisingly similar amplitude even though the TIO forcing is relatively weak. It is shown that the sign and strength of the NAM response is often simply related to the phasing, and hence the linear interference, between the Rossby wave response and the climatological stationary wave. The TPO (TIO) wave response reinforces (attenuates) the climatological wave and therefore weakens (strengthens) the stratospheric jet and leads to a negative (positive) NAM response. In additional simulations, it is shown that decreasing the strength of the climatological stationary wave reduces the importance of linear interference and increases the importance of nonlinearity. This work demonstrates that the simulated extratropical annular mode response to climate forcings can depend sensitively on the amplitude and phase of the climatological stationary wave and the wave response.
Abstract
Recent observational and modeling studies have demonstrated a link between eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (TPO) warming associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the negative phase of the wintertime northern annular mode (NAM). The TPO–NAM link involves a Rossby wave teleconnection from the tropics to the extratropics, and an increase in polar stratospheric wave driving that in turn induces a negative NAM anomaly in the stratosphere and troposphere. Previous work further suggests that tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) warming is associated with a positive NAM anomaly, which is of opposite sign to the TPO case. The TIO case is, however, difficult to interpret because the TPO and TIO warmings are not independent. To better understand the dynamics of tropical influences on the NAM, the current study investigates the NAM response to imposed TPO and TIO warmings in a general circulation model. The NAM responses to the two warmings have opposite sign and can be of surprisingly similar amplitude even though the TIO forcing is relatively weak. It is shown that the sign and strength of the NAM response is often simply related to the phasing, and hence the linear interference, between the Rossby wave response and the climatological stationary wave. The TPO (TIO) wave response reinforces (attenuates) the climatological wave and therefore weakens (strengthens) the stratospheric jet and leads to a negative (positive) NAM response. In additional simulations, it is shown that decreasing the strength of the climatological stationary wave reduces the importance of linear interference and increases the importance of nonlinearity. This work demonstrates that the simulated extratropical annular mode response to climate forcings can depend sensitively on the amplitude and phase of the climatological stationary wave and the wave response.
