Premium
A dynamical link between the Arctic and the global climate system
Author(s) -
Dethloff K.,
Rinke A.,
Benkel A.,
Køltzow M.,
Sokolova E.,
Kumar Saha S.,
Handorf D.,
Dorn W.,
Rockel B.,
von Storch H.,
Haugen J. E.,
Røed L. P.,
Roeckner E.,
Christensen J. H.,
Stendel M.
Publication year - 2006
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 - 10.1029/2005gl025245
Subject(s) - sea ice , arctic geoengineering , climatology , arctic , arctic ice pack , atmospheric sciences , snow , environmental science , latitude , albedo (alchemy) , geology , ice albedo feedback , troposphere , middle latitudes , westerlies , drift ice , oceanography , art , geodesy , geomorphology , performance art , art history
By means of simulations with a global coupled AOGCM it is shown that changes in the polar energy sink region can exert a strong influence on the mid‐ and high‐latitude climate by modulating the strength of the mid‐latitude westerlies and storm tracks. It is found, that a more realistic sea‐ice and snow albedo treatment changes the ice‐albedo feedback and the radiative exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean‐sea‐ice system. The planetary wave energy fluxes in the middle troposphere of mid‐latitudes between 30 and 50°N are redistributed, which induces perturbations in the zonal and meridional planetary wave trains from the tropics over the mid‐latitudes into the Arctic. It is shown, that the improved parameterization of Arctic sea‐ice and snow albedo can trigger changes in the Arctic and North Atlantic Oscillation pattern with strong implications for the European climate.