Premium
A two‐phase response of the Southern Ocean to an increase in greenhouse gas concentrations
Author(s) -
Goosse Hugues,
Renssen Hans
Publication year - 2001
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 - 10.1029/2001gl013525
Subject(s) - southern hemisphere , environmental science , greenhouse gas , climatology , atmosphere (unit) , sea ice , greenhouse effect , effects of global warming on oceans , atmospheric sciences , northern hemisphere , climate model , sea surface temperature , ocean heat content , global warming , oceanography , climate change , geology , meteorology , geography
The response of the Southern Ocean to an increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations simulated by a global atmosphere‐ocean‐sea‐ice model can be decomposed in two different phases. Firstly, the ocean damps the surface warming because of its large heat capacity. Secondly, one century after the major increase in greenhouse gases, the warming is amplified because of a positive feedback that is associated with a stronger oceanic meridional heat transport toward the Southern Ocean. Consequently, the long‐term decrease in ice area in the Southern Ocean is much larger than in the Northern Hemisphere. This large but delayed response has consequences for the interpretation of both observations and model results.