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Modeling the influence of Greenland ice sheet melting on the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the next millennia
Author(s) -
Driesschaert E.,
Fichefet T.,
Goosse H.,
Huybrechts P.,
Janssens I.,
Mouchet A.,
Munhoven G.,
Brovkin V.,
Weber S. L.
Publication year - 2007
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 - 10.1029/2007gl029516
Subject(s) - greenland ice sheet , ice sheet , deglaciation , climatology , ice sheet model , radiative forcing , geology , cryosphere , forcing (mathematics) , ice stream , oceanography , sea ice , atmospheric sciences , climate change , holocene
A three‐dimensional Earth system model of intermediate complexity including a dynamic ice sheet component has been used to investigate the long‐term evolution of the Greenland ice sheet and its effects on the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) in response to a range of stabilized anthropogenic forcings. Our results suggest that the Greenland ice sheet volume should experience a significant decrease in the future. For a radiative forcing exceeding 7.5 W m −2 , the modeled ice sheet melts away within 3000 years. A number of feedbacks operate during this deglaciation, implying a strong non‐linear relationship between the radiative forcing and the melting rate. Only in the most extreme scenarios considered, the freshwater flux from Greenland into the surrounding oceans (of ca. 0.1 Sv during a few centuries) induces a noticeable weakening of the AMOC in the model.