The Increasing Efficiency of the Poleward Energy Transport Into the Arctic in a Warming Climate.
In: Geophysical Research Letters, Jg. 50 (2023-01-28), Heft 2, S. 1-10
Online
academicJournal
Zugriff:
This study quantifies the contribution to Arctic winter surface warming from changes in the tropospheric energy transport (Ftrop) and the efficiency with which Ftrop heats the surface in the RCP8.5 warming scenario of the Community Earth System Model Large Ensemble. A metric for this efficiency, Etrop, measures the fraction of anomalous Ftrop that is balanced by an anomalous net surface flux (NSF). Drivers of Etrop are identified in synoptic‐scale events during which Ftrop is the dominant driver of NSF. Etrop is sensitive to the vertical structure of Ftrop and pre‐existing Arctic lower‐tropospheric stability (LTS). In RCP8.5, winter‐mean Ftrop decreases from 95.1 to 85.4 W m−2, while Etrop increases by 5.7%, likely driven by decreased Arctic LTS, indicating an increased coupling between Ftrop and the surface energy budget. The net impact of decreasing Ftrop and increasing efficiency is a positive 0.7 W m−2 contribution to winter‐season surface heating. Plain Language Summary: The role of atmospheric circulations in future Arctic surface warming is typically assessed through changes in total energy transported into the Arctic, assuming a vertically uniform temperature response. However, the Arctic response to energy input during short timescale winter weather events is sensitive to the vertical structure of the transport and the pre‐existing surface state. Using climate model simulations with increasing greenhouse gases, this study quantifies changes in the fraction of excess energy absorbed by the surface during individual weather events. The total energy transport is found to decrease. However, this decrease is overcompensated by an increase in the per‐event surface heating efficiency. The net effect is a small positive contribution to Arctic surface warming. Key Points: The poleward atmospheric energy flux into the Arctic decreases in the RCP8.5 warming scenario of the Community Earth System Model Large EnsembleThe efficiency with which the atmospheric energy flux heats the Arctic surface increases in the RCP8.5 warming scenarioChanges in the atmospheric energy flux contribute to Arctic surface warming despite a decrease in the vertical integral of the energy flux [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Titel: |
The Increasing Efficiency of the Poleward Energy Transport Into the Arctic in a Warming Climate.
|
---|---|
Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Cardinale, Christopher J. ; Rose, Brian E. J. |
Link: | |
Zeitschrift: | Geophysical Research Letters, Jg. 50 (2023-01-28), Heft 2, S. 1-10 |
Veröffentlichung: | 2023 |
Medientyp: | academicJournal |
ISSN: | 0094-8276 (print) |
DOI: | 10.1029/2022GL100834 |
Schlagwort: |
|
Sonstiges: |
|