Abstract Stratospheric ozone, and its response to anthropogenic forcings, provides an important pathway for the coupling between atmospheric composition and climate. In addition to stratospheric ozone’s radiative impacts, recent studies have shown that changes in the ozone layer due to 4xCO2have a considerable impact on the Northern Hemisphere (NH) tropospheric circulation, inducing an equatorward shift of the North Atlantic jet during boreal winter. Using simulations produced with the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) high-top climate model (E2.2), we show that this equatorward shift of the Atlantic jet can induce a more rapid weakening of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). The weaker AMOC, in turn, results in an eastward acceleration and poleward shift of the Atlantic and Pacific jets, respectively, on longer time scales. As such, coupled feedbacks from both stratospheric ozone and the AMOC result in a two-time-scale response of the NH midlatitude jet to abrupt 4xCO2forcing: a “fast” response (5–20 years) during which it shifts equatorward and a “total” response (∼100–150 years) during which the jet accelerates and shifts poleward. The latter is driven by a weakening of the AMOC that develops in response to weaker surface zonal winds that result in reduced heat fluxes out of the subpolar gyre and reduced North Atlantic Deep Water formation. Our results suggest that stratospheric ozone changes in the lower stratosphere can have a surprisingly powerful effect on the AMOC, independent of other aspects of climate change.
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Response of Northern Hemisphere Midlatitude Circulation to Arctic Amplification in a Simple Atmospheric General Circulation Model
This study examines the Northern Hemisphere midlatitude circulation response to Arctic amplification (AA) in a simple atmospheric general circulation model. It is found that, in response to AA, the tropospheric jet shifts equatorward and the stratospheric polar vortex weakens, robustly for various AA forcing strengths. Despite this, no statistically significant change in the frequency of sudden stratospheric warming events is identified. In addition, in order to quantitatively assess the role of stratosphere–troposphere coupling, the tropospheric pathway is isolated by nudging the stratospheric zonal mean state toward the reference state. When the nudging is applied, rendering the stratosphere inactive, the tropospheric jet still shifts equatorward but by approximately half the magnitude compared to that of an active stratosphere. The difference represents the stratospheric pathway and the downward influence of the stratosphere on the troposphere. This suggests that stratosphere–troposphere coupling plays a nonnegligible role in establishing the midlatitude circulation response to AA.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1815138
- PAR ID:
- 10128258
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Climate
- Volume:
- 29
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 0894-8755
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 2041 to 2058
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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