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Localization of abrupt change in the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation
Author(s) -
Johnson Helen L.,
Marshall David P.
Publication year - 2002
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 - 10.1029/2001gl014140
Subject(s) - thermohaline circulation , shutdown of thermohaline circulation , atlantic equatorial mode , north atlantic deep water , atlantic multidecadal oscillation , climatology , oceanography , atlantic hurricane , geology , ocean current , forcing (mathematics) , northern hemisphere , climate change , abrupt climate change , north atlantic oscillation , environmental science , global warming , effects of global warming , tropical cyclone
Recent climate model experiments, as well as paleoclimate records, suggest that the meridional overturning circulation or “thermohaline circulation” in the Atlantic Ocean could change abruptly as a result of global warming, and that this could have a significant impact on European climate. We use a reduced‐gravity model to investigate the response of the Atlantic overturning circulation to changes in forcing. We find that variability at decadal and higher frequencies is confined to a single hemisphere. This implies that (a) overturning variability resulting from high frequency changes in buoyancy forcing in the Labrador and Greenland Seas will be limited to the North Atlantic, and (b) any observed decadal and higher frequency fluctuations in North Atlantic overturning can only result from changes in the surface fluxes within the North Atlantic basin itself. These results suggest that Southern Ocean wind forcing is not important for North Atlantic overturning on decadal and shorter timescales.