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Collapse and reorganisation of the Southern Ocean overturning under global warming in a coupled model
Author(s) -
Bi Daohua,
Budd William F.,
Hirst Anthony C.,
Wu Xingren
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 - 10.1029/2001gl013705
Subject(s) - thermohaline circulation , global warming , environmental science , climatology , ocean general circulation model , effects of global warming on oceans , north atlantic deep water , deep sea , oceanography , geology , climate change , atmospheric sciences , general circulation model
This study investigates the long‐term behaviour of the thermohaline circulation (THC) in the CSIRO climate model, under a scenario of transient increase of atmospheric (equivalent) CO 2 concentration followed by a perpetual stabilisation at triple the initial level (3 × CO 2 ). The North Atlantic Deep Water Formation (NADWF) declines substantially and the Antarctic Bottom Water Formation (AABWF) essentially ceases by the time of CO 2 tripling. During the subsequent millennium of stable 3 × CO 2 , NADWF recovers slightly but the AABWF shows no sign of returning and the residual deep overturning dies away. Accelerating the convergence to equilibrium of the deep ocean under the 3 × CO 2 condition, the global THC eventually reaches a near‐stable state with the entire ocean warming by about 7°C, NADWF fully recovered and AABWF partly re‐established. This result shows a possible new quasi‐equilibrium of the ocean under long‐term global warming induced by the anthropogenic CO 2 increase.