And yet another area where turning down the sun won’t have the same effect as 
stratospheric aerosols.  (Since it has the opposite sign in the stratosphere.)

 

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] 
On Behalf Of Charles H. Greene
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2016 7:40 PM
To: Andrew Lockley <[email protected]>
Cc: geoengineering <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [geo] Response of the AMOC to reduced solar radiation – the 
modulating role of atmospheric-chemistry

 

Very interesting dynamical result, essentially mirroring the effects of Arctic 
amplification but by cooling lower latitudes to reduce the latitudinal 
temperature and geopotential height gradients. Thus, one might expect 
destabilization of the Polar Vortex, greater meandering of the Polar Jet 
Stream, and possibly higher frequencies of blocking events and extreme weather 
events in the mid latitudes. Also, in addition to effects on the AMOC, we might 
expect an increase in the frequency of Great Salinity Anomalies and their 
remote forcing of shelf marine ecosystems, especially in the NW Atlantic. These 
effects will likely be transient, like the ones we are observing now as the 
Arctic heats up and sea ice melts. I wonder what other surprises we would see, 
ones that the models don’t predict. 

 

Chuck Greene

 

On May 11, 2016, at 1:49 PM, Andrew Lockley <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

 


http://www.earth-syst-dynam-discuss.net/esd-2016-16/

Response of the AMOC to reduced solar radiation – the modulating role of 
atmospheric-chemistry

Stefan Muthers, Christoph C. Raible, and Thomas F. Stocker
University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
: 25 Apr 2016

Abstract. The influence of reduced solar forcing (grand solar minimum or 
geoengineering scenarios like solar radiation management) on the Atlantic 
meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is assessed in an ensemble of 
atmosphere-ocean-chemistry-climate model simulations. Ensemble sensitivity 
simulations are performed with and without interactive chemistry. Without 
chemistry-climate interaction the AMOC is intensified in the course of the 
solar radiation reduction (SRR), which is attributed to the thermal effect of 
the solar forcing: reduced sea surface temperatures and enhanced sea ice 
formation increase the density of the upper ocean in the North Atlantic and 
intensify the deepwater formation. In simulations with chemistry-climate 
interactions a second, dynamical effect on the AMOC is identified which 
counteracts the thermal effect. This dynamical mechanism is driven by the 
stratospheric cooling in response to the reduced solar forcing, which is 
strongest in the tropics and leads to a weakening of the Northern polar vortex. 
In simulations with interactive chemistry, these stratospheric changes are 
strongly amplified by the reduction of stratospheric ozone. By 
stratosphere-troposphere interactions, the stratospheric circulation anomalies 
induce a negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation in the troposphere, which is 
found to weaken the AMOC through wind stress and heat flux anomalies in the 
North Atlantic. Neglecting chemistry-climate interactions in model simulations 
may therefore lead to an overestimation of the AMOC response to solar forcing.

Citation: Muthers, S., Raible, C. C., and Stocker, T. F.: Response of the AMOC 
to reduced solar radiation – the modulating role of atmospheric-chemistry, 
Earth Syst. Dynam. Discuss., doi:10.5194/esd-2016-16, in review, 2016

 

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