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Sea ice, high‐latitude convection, and equable climates
Author(s) -
Abbot D. S.,
Tziperman Eli
Publication year - 2008
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 - 10.1029/2007gl032286
Subject(s) - sea ice , climatology , latitude , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , convection , arctic ice pack , antarctic sea ice , polar , geology , meteorology , geography , physics , geodesy , astronomy
It is argued that deep atmospheric convection might occur during winter in ice‐free high‐latitude oceans, and that the surface radiative warming effects of the clouds and water vapor associated with this winter convection could keep high‐latitude oceans ice‐free through polar night. In such an ice‐free high‐latitude ocean the annual‐mean SST would be much higher and the seasonal cycle would be dramatically reduced ‐ making potential implications for equable climates manifest. The constraints that atmospheric heat transport, ocean heat transport, and CO 2 concentration place on this mechanism are established. These ideas are investigated using the NCAR column model, which has state‐of‐the‐art atmospheric physics parameterizations, high vertical resolution, a full seasonal cycle, a thermodynamic sea ice model, and a mixed layer ocean.