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Multiple drivers of the North Atlantic warming hole

Author

Listed:
  • Paul Keil

    (Max Planck Institute for Meteorology)

  • Thorsten Mauritsen

    (Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
    Department of Meteorology, Stockholm University)

  • Johann Jungclaus

    (Max Planck Institute for Meteorology)

  • Christopher Hedemann

    (Max Planck Institute for Meteorology)

  • Dirk Olonscheck

    (Max Planck Institute for Meteorology)

  • Rohit Ghosh

    (Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
    University of Reading)

Abstract

Despite global warming, a region in the North Atlantic ocean has been observed to cool, a phenomenon known as the warming hole. Its emergence has been linked to a slowdown of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, which leads to a reduced ocean heat transport into the warming hole region. Here we show that, in addition to the reduced low-latitude heat import, increased ocean heat transport out of the region into higher latitudes and a shortwave cloud feedback dominate the formation and temporal evolution of the warming hole under greenhouse gas forcing. In climate model simulations of the historical period, the low-latitude Atlantic meridional overturning circulation decline does not emerge from natural variability, whereas the accelerating heat transport to higher latitudes is clearly attributable to anthropogenic forcing. Both the overturning and the gyre circulation contribute to the increased high-latitude ocean heat transport, and therefore are critical to understand the past and future evolutions of the warming hole.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Keil & Thorsten Mauritsen & Johann Jungclaus & Christopher Hedemann & Dirk Olonscheck & Rohit Ghosh, 2020. "Multiple drivers of the North Atlantic warming hole," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 10(7), pages 667-671, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcli:v:10:y:2020:i:7:d:10.1038_s41558-020-0819-8
    DOI: 10.1038/s41558-020-0819-8
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    Cited by:

    1. Qinxue Gu & Melissa Gervais & Gokhan Danabasoglu & Who M. Kim & Frederic Castruccio & Elizabeth Maroon & Shang-Ping Xie, 2024. "Wide range of possible trajectories of North Atlantic climate in a warming world," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Jie Huang & Robert S. Pickart & Zhuomin Chen & Rui Xin Huang, 2023. "Role of air-sea heat flux on the transformation of Atlantic Water encircling the Nordic Seas," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Raphael Portmann & Urs Beyerle & Edouard Davin & Erich M. Fischer & Steven Hertog & Sebastian Schemm, 2022. "Global forestation and deforestation affect remote climate via adjusted atmosphere and ocean circulation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Brice B. Hanberry & Marc D. Abrams & Gregory J. Nowacki, 2024. "Potential Interactions between Climate Change and Land Use for Forest Issues in the Eastern United States," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-20, March.

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