Open AccessStronger Arctic amplification from ozone-depleting substances than from carbon dioxide
Author(s) -
YuChiao Liang,
Lorenzo M. Polvani,
Michael Previdi,
Kay Smith,
Mark England,
Gabriel Chiodo
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
environmental research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.37
H-Index - 124
ISSN - 1748-9326
DOI - 10.1088/1748-9326/ac4a31
Subject(s) - environmental science , carbon dioxide , climatology , global warming , arctic , ozone , atmospheric sciences , albedo (alchemy) , arctic ice pack , arctic geoengineering , the arctic , arctic sea ice decline , greenhouse gas , climate change , sea ice , oceanography , chemistry , meteorology , geology , geography , drift ice , art , organic chemistry , performance art , art history
Arctic amplification (AA)—the greater warming of the Arctic near-surface temperature relative to its global mean value—is a prominent feature of the climate response to increasing greenhouse gases. Recent work has revealed the importance of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) in contributing to Arctic warming and sea-ice loss. Here, using ensembles of climate model integrations, we expand on that work and directly contrast Arctic warming from ODS to that from carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), over the 1955–2005 period when ODS loading peaked. We find that the Arctic warming and sea-ice loss from ODS are slightly more than half (52%–59%) those from CO 2 . We further show that the strength of AA for ODS is 1.44 times larger than that for CO 2 , and that this mainly stems from more positive Planck, albedo, lapse-rate, and cloud feedbacks. Our results suggest that AA would be considerably stronger than presently observed had the Montreal Protocol not been signed.