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Quantifying the Influence of Cloud Radiative Feedbacks on Arctic Surface Warming Using Cloud Locking in an Earth System Model
Author(s) -
Middlemas E. A.,
Kay J. E.,
Medeiros B. M.,
Maroon E. A.
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 - 10.1029/2020gl089207
Subject(s) - cloud computing , environmental science , arctic , cloud feedback , global warming , climatology , atmospheric sciences , climate model , cloud forcing , radiative transfer , cloud cover , cloud top , cloud albedo , meteorology , climate change , climate sensitivity , geology , geography , physics , oceanography , computer science , quantum mechanics , operating system
Understanding the influence of clouds on amplified Arctic surface warming remains an important unsolved research problem. Here, this cloud influence is directly quantified by disabling cloud radiative feedbacks or “cloud locking” within a state‐of‐the‐art and well‐documented model. Through comparison of idealized greenhouse warming experiments with and without cloud locking, the influence of Arctic and global cloud feedbacks is assessed. Global cloud feedbacks increase both global and Arctic warming by around 25%. In contrast, disabling Arctic cloud feedbacks has a negligible influence on both Arctic and global surface warming. Interestingly, the sum of noncloud radiative feedbacks does not change with either global or Arctic‐only cloud locking. Notably, the influence of Arctic cloud feedbacks is likely underestimated, because, like many models, the model used here underestimates high‐latitude supercooled cloud liquid. More broadly, this work demonstrates the value of regional and global cloud locking in a well‐characterized model.

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