Modeled response of the Australian monsoon to changes in land surface temperatures

Observations indicate that over the past several decades much of Australia has been getting wetter during summer, while the continent as a whole has been warming. This is consistent with a strengthening of the Australian monsoon. Here we model the climatic response to a reduction in land albedos with the aim of investigating the impacts on the monsoon of changes in land surface temperatures. Changes in the modeled surface energy budget strengthen the monsoon and increase rainfall over the entire continent. Modeled surface temperatures increase in the southern, climatologically drier, regions but decrease in the north. The degree of similarity with the observed rainfall and temperature trends suggests that the strengthening of the monsoon, is independent of changes over the ocean but may be due to changes over the land, highlighting potential sensitivity to changes in climate.