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Influence of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation on the monsoon rainfall and carbon balance of the American tropics
Author(s) -
Parsons Luke A.,
Yin Jianjun,
Overpeck Jonathan T.,
Stouffer Ronald J.,
Malyshev Sergey
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2013gl058454
Subject(s) - tropics , climatology , intertropical convergence zone , monsoon , precipitation , zonal and meridional , tropical atlantic , environmental science , carbon cycle , amazon rainforest , shutdown of thermohaline circulation , geology , oceanography , atmospheric sciences , thermohaline circulation , north atlantic deep water , geography , sea surface temperature , meteorology , ecosystem , ecology , fishery , biology
We examine the response of the American Tropics to changes in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) strength using a set of water‐hosing experiments with an Earth system model that explicitly simulates the global and regional carbon cycle. We find that a moderate weakening (27%) of the AMOC, induced by a 0.1 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 10 6 m 3 s −1 ) freshwater addition in the northern North Atlantic, drives small but statistically significant drying in the South American monsoon region. By contrast, a complete shutdown of the AMOC, induced by a 1.0 Sv freshwater addition, acts to considerably shift the ITCZ southward, which changes the seasonal cycle of precipitation over Amazonia. Our results indicate that AMOC weakening can have a significant impact on the terrestrial primary productivity and carbon storage of the American Tropics.