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Robust Longitudinally Variable Responses of the ITCZ to a Myriad of Climate Forcings
Author(s) -
Atwood Alyssa R.,
Donohoe Aaron,
Battisti David S.,
Liu Xiaojuan,
Pausata Francesco S. R.
Publication year - 2020
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 - 10.1029/2020gl088833
Subject(s) - climatology , forcing (mathematics) , hadley cell , intertropical convergence zone , orbital forcing , climate change , environmental science , climate model , atmospheric sciences , extratropical cyclone , zonal and meridional , geology , physics , precipitation , meteorology , general circulation model , oceanography , insolation
We evaluate the longitudinal variation in meridional shifts of the tropical rainbelt in response to natural and anthropogenic forcings using a large suite of coupled climate model simulations. We find that the energetic framework of the zonal mean Hadley cell is generally not useful for characterizing shifts of the rainbelt at regional scales, regardless of the characteristics of the forcing. Forcings with large hemispheric asymmetry such as extratropical volcanic forcing, meltwater forcing, and the Last Glacial Maximum give rise to robust zonal mean shifts of the rainbelt; however, the direction and magnitude of the shift vary strongly as a function of longitude. Even the Pacific rainband does not shift uniformly under any forcing considered. Forcings with weak hemispheric asymmetry such as CO 2 and mid‐Holocene forcing give rise to zonal mean shifts that are small or absent, but the rainbelt does shift regionally in coherent ways across models that may have important dynamical consequences.