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Reduced Southern Hemispheric circulation response to quadrupled CO 2 due to stratospheric ozone feedback
Author(s) -
Chiodo Gabriel,
Polvani Lorenzo M.
Publication year - 2017
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 - 10.1002/2016gl071011
Subject(s) - tropopause , atmospheric sciences , ozone layer , climatology , ozone , environmental science , stratosphere , troposphere , atmospheric circulation , general circulation model , middle latitudes , ozone depletion , circulation (fluid dynamics) , climate change , meteorology , geology , geography , physics , oceanography , thermodynamics
Due to computational constraints, interactive stratospheric ozone chemistry is commonly neglected in most climate models participating in intercomparison projects. The impact of this simplification on the modeled response to external forcings remains unexplored. In this work, we examine the importance of including interactive stratospheric ozone chemistry on the Southern Hemispheric circulation response to an abrupt quadrupling of CO 2 . We find that including interactive ozone significantly reduces (by 20%) the response of the midlatitude jet to CO 2 , even though it does not alter the surface temperature response. The reduction of the tropospheric circulation response is due to CO 2 induced ozone changes and their effects on the meridional temperature gradient near the tropopause. Our findings suggest that neglecting this stratospheric ozone feedback results in an overestimate of the circulation response to increased CO 2 . This has important implications for climate projections of the Southern Hemispheric circulation response to CO 2 .