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Abstract Changes in midlatitude clouds as a result of shifts in general circulation patterns are widely thought to be a potential source of radiative feedbacks onto the climate system. Previous work has suggested that two general circulation shifts anticipated to occur in a warming climate, poleward shifts in the midlatitude jet streams and a poleward expansion of the Hadley circulation, are associated with differing effects on midlatitude clouds. This study examines two dynamical cloud‐controlling factors, mid‐tropospheric vertical velocity, and the estimated inversion strength (EIS) of the marine boundary layer temperature inversion, to explain why poleward shifts in the Southern Hemisphere midlatitude jet and Hadley cell edge have varying shortwave cloud‐radiative responses at midlatitudes. Changes in vertical velocity and EIS occur further equatorward for poleward shifts in the Hadley cell edge than they do for poleward shifts of the midlatitude jet. Because the sensitivity of shortwave cloud radiative effects (SWCRE) to variations in vertical velocity and EIS is a function of latitude, the SWCRE anomalies associated with jet and Hadley cell shifts differ. The dynamical changes associated with a poleward jet shift occur further poleward in a regime where the sensitivities of SWCRE to changes in vertical velocity and EIS balance, leading to a near‐net zero change in SWCRE in midlatitudes with a poleward jet shift. Conversely, the dynamical changes associated with Hadley cell expansion occur further equatorward at a latitude where the sensitivity of SWCRE is more strongly associated with changes in mid‐tropospheric vertical velocity, leading to a net shortwave cloud radiative warming effect in midlatitudes.
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Hemispheric Asymmetry of Tropical Expansion Under CO 2 Forcing
Abstract The degree of Hadley cell expansion under global warming will have a substantial impact on changing rainfall patterns. Most previous studies have quantified changes in total tropical width, focused on the Southern Hemisphere Hadley cell or considered each hemisphere's response to a multitude of anthropogenic forcings. It is shown here that under exclusive CO2forcing, climate models predict twice as much Hadley cell expansion in the Southern Hemisphere relative to the Northern Hemisphere. This asymmetry is present in the annual mean expansion and all seasons except boreal autumn. It is robust across models and Hadley cell edge definitions. It is surprising since asymmetries in simulated Hadley cell expansion are typically attributed to stratospheric ozone depletion or aerosol emission. Its primary cause is smaller sensitivity of the Northern Hemisphere Hadley cell to static stability changes. The pattern of sea surface warming and the CO2direct radiative effect also contribute to the asymmetry.
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- PAR ID:
- 10374650
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Volume:
- 46
- Issue:
- 15
- ISSN:
- 0094-8276
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 9231-9240
- Size(s):
- p. 9231-9240
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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