SST and ENSO variability and change simulated in historical experiments of CMIP5 models

This work documents the diversity in Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) models in simulating different aspects of sea surface temperature (SST) variability, particularly those associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), as well as the impact of low-frequency variations on the ENSO variability and its global teleconnection. The historical simulations (1870–2005) include 10 models with ensemble member ranging from 3 to 10 that are forced with observed atmospheric composition changes reflecting both natural and anthropogenic forcings. It is shown that the majority of the CMIP5 models capture the relative large SST anomaly variance in the tropical central and eastern Pacific, as well as in North Pacific and North Atlantic. The frequency of ENSO is not well captured by almost all models, particularly for the period of 5–6 years. The low-frequency variations in SST caused by external forcings affect the SST variability and also modify the global teleconnection of ENSO. The models reproduce the global averaged SST low-frequency variations, particularly since 1970s. However, majority of the models are unable to correctly simulate the spatial pattern of the observed SST trends. These results suggest that it is still a challenge to reproduce the features of global historical SST variations with the state-of-the-art coupled general circulation model.     

热带太平洋SST异常对IAP-9 LAGCM 年际变率影响的模拟

通过1960~1989年实测的热带太平洋(30.5°N~30.5°S,120°E~70°W)SST(热带太平洋区域以外用气候平均值)强迫AGCM得到的结果,以此来研究热带SST的变化对全球大气环流年际变化的影响。首先,我们分析了南方涛动,分别给出了Tahiti和Darwin海平面气压异常及赤道附近(-5°S~5°N)外逸长波辐射(OLR)时间演变,都能很好与观测相比较。然后,讨论了全球大气环流对热带SST的变化的响应,全球主要的遥相关型都能很好地再现。最后,通过奇异值分解(SVD)技术研究了热带SST与冬季北半球500 hPa位势高度主要的耦合型,模拟的相关型与NCEP再分析资料的相关型非常相似。     

Interpreting observed northern hemisphere snow trends with large ensembles of climate simulations

Simulated variability and trends in Northern Hemisphere seasonal snow cover are analyzed in large ensembles of climate integrations of the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Community Earth System Model. Two 40-member ensembles driven by historical radiative forcings are generated, one coupled to a dynamical ocean and the other driven by observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs) over the period 1981–2010. The simulations reproduce many aspects of the observed climatology and variability of snow cover extent as characterized by the NOAA snow chart climate data record. Major features of the simulated snow water equivalent (SWE) also agree with observations (GlobSnow Northern Hemisphere SWE data record), although with a lesser degree of fidelity. Ensemble spread in the climate response quantifies the impact of natural climate variability in the presence and absence of coupling to the ocean. Both coupled and uncoupled ensembles indicate an overall decrease in springtime snow cover that is consistent with observations, although springtime trends in most climate realizations are weaker than observed. In the coupled ensemble, a tendency towards excessive warming in wintertime leads to a strong wintertime snow cover loss that is not found in observations. The wintertime warming bias and snow cover reduction trends are reduced in the uncoupled ensemble with observed SSTs. Natural climate variability generates widely different regional patterns of snow trends across realizations; these patterns are related in an intuitive way to temperature, precipitation and circulation trends in individual realizations. In particular, regional snow loss over North America in individual realizations is strongly influenced by North Pacific SST trends (manifested as Pacific Decadal Oscillation variability) and by sea level pressure trends in the North Pacific/North Atlantic sectors.     

Southern Hemisphere extra-tropical forcing: a new paradigm for El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation

The main goal of this paper is to shed additional light on the reciprocal dynamical linkages between mid-latitude Southern Hemisphere climate and the El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) signal. While our analysis confirms that ENSO is a dominant source of interannual variability in the Southern Hemisphere, it is also suggested here that subtropical dipole variability in both the Southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans triggered by Southern Hemisphere mid-latitude variability may also provide a controlling influence on ENSO in the equatorial Pacific. This subtropical forcing operates through various coupled air?Csea feedbacks involving the propagation of subtropical sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies into the deep tropics of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans from boreal winter to boreal spring and a subsequent dynamical atmospheric response to these SST anomalies linking the three tropical basins at the beginning of the boreal spring. This atmospheric response is characterized by a significant weakening of the equatorial Atlantic and Indian Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). This weakened ITCZ forces an equatorial ??cold Kelvin wave?? response in the middle to upper troposphere that extends eastward from the heat sink regions into the western Pacific. By modulating the vertical temperature gradient and the stability of the atmosphere over the equatorial western Pacific Ocean, this Kelvin wave response promotes persistent zonal wind and convective anomalies over the western equatorial Pacific, which may trigger El Ni?o onset at the end of the boreal winter. These different processes explain why South Atlantic and Indian subtropical dipole time series indices are highly significant precursors of the Ni?o34 SST index several months in advance before the El Ni?o onset in the equatorial Pacific. This study illustrates that the atmospheric internal variability in the mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere may significantly influence ENSO variability. However, this surprising relationship is observed only during recent decades, after the so-called 1976/1977 climate regime shift, suggesting a possible linkage with global warming or decadal fluctuations of the climate system.     

耦合模式对冬春季节南、北极涛动的季节气候预测能力研究

研究评估了耦合气候模式对冬、春季北极涛动(AO)和南极涛动(AAO)的预测效能。结果表明,模式对于北极涛动和南极涛动的模拟能力都是比较强的,其中,对冬季的模拟能力要强于春季。冬季,几乎所有的模式都能很好地模拟出对流层内北极涛动的空间分布形态特点,空间相关系数很高。春季,大部分模式的模拟结果仍然是比较好,与再分析资料结果的空间相关性比较高。对于南极涛动,模式在全年对流层各个层次上都能比较好地刻画其空间分布,且模式在850hPa等压面上的空间模拟效能要稍强于海平面。相对来说,冬季的模拟效果也稍强于其他季节,但是,差异不显著,模式与模式的差别也比较小。另外,模式对于北极涛动和南极涛动的时间序列模拟能力有限,时间序列相关系数只有少数几个模式达到显著性水平。     

Role of the upper ocean structure in the response of ENSO-like SST variability to global warming

The response of El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-like variability to global warming varies comparatively between the two different climate system models, i.e., the Meteorological Research Institute (MRI) and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) Coupled General Circulation Models (CGCMs). Here, we examine the role of the simulated upper ocean temperature structure in the different sensitivities of the simulated ENSO variability in the models based on the different level of CO₂ concentrations. In the MRI model, the sea surface temperature (SST) undergoes a rather drastic modification, namely a tendency toward a permanent El Niño-like state. This is associated with an enhanced stratification which results in greater ENSO amplitude for the MRI model. On the other hand, the ENSO simulated by GFDL model is hardly modified although the mean temperature in the near surface layer increases. In order to understand the associated mechanisms we carry out a vertical mode decomposition of the mean equatorial stratification and a simplified heat balance analysis using an intermediate tropical Pacific model tuned from the CGCM outputs. It is found that in the MRI model the increased stratification is associated with an enhancement of the zonal advective feedback and the non-linear advection. In the GFDL model, on the other hand, the thermocline variability and associated anomalous vertical advection are reduced in the eastern equatorial Pacific under global warming, which erodes the thermocline feedback and explains why the ENSO amplitude is reduced in a warmer climate in this model. It is suggested that change in stratification associated with global warming impacts the equatorial wave dynamics in a way that enhances the second baroclinic mode over the gravest one, which leads to the change in feedback processes in the CGCMs. Our results illustrate that the upper ocean vertical structure simulated in the CGCMs is a key parameter of the sensitivity of ENSO-like SST variability to global warming.     

Climate Variability and Change: Past, Present and Future – An Overview

Prior to the 20th century Northern Hemisphere average surface air temperatures have varied in the order of 0.5 ^°C back to AD 1000. Various climate reconstructions indicate that slow cooling took place until the beginning of the 20th century. Subsequently, global-average surface air temperature increased by about 0.6 °C with the 1990s being the warmest decade on record. The pattern of warming has been greatest over mid-latitude northern continents in the latter part of the century. At the same time the frequency of air frosts has decreased over many land areas, and there has been a drying in the tropics and sub-tropics. The late 20th century changes have been attributed to global warming because of increases in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations due to human activities. Underneath these trends is that of decadal scale variability in the Pacific basin at least induced by the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), which causes decadal changes in climate averages. On interannnual timescales El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) causes much variability throughout many tropical and subtropical regions and some mid-latitude areas. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) provides climate perturbations over Europe and northern Africa. During the course of the 21st century global-average surface temperatures are very likely to increase by 2 to 4.5 ^°C as greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere increase. At the same time there will be changes in precipitation, and climate extremes such as hot days, heavy rainfall and drought are expected to increase in many areas. The combination of global warming, superimposed on decadal climate variability (IPO) and interannual fluctuations (ENSO, NAO) are expected lead to a century of increasing climate variability and change that will be unprecedented in the history of human settlement. Although the changes of the past and present have stressed food and fibre production at times, the 21st century changes will be extremely challenging to agriculture and forestry.     

气候变化的归因与预估模拟研究

本文总结了近五年来中国科学院大气物理研究所在气候变暖的归因模拟与预估研究上的主要进展。研究表明,利用海温、太阳辐射和温室气体等实际强迫因子驱动大气环流模式,能够较为合理地模拟全球平均地表气温在20世纪的演变,但是难以模拟出包括北大西洋涛动／北极涛动和南极涛动在内的高纬度环流的长期变化趋势。利用温室气体和硫酸盐气溶胶等“历史资料”驱动气候系统模式,能够较好地模拟出20世纪后期的全球增暖,但如果要再现20世纪前期(1940年代)的变暖,还需同时考虑太阳辐射等自然外强迫因子。20世纪中国气温演变的耦合模式模拟技巧,较之全球平均情况要低;中国气候在1920年代的变暖机理目前尚不清楚。对于近50年中国东部地区“南冷北暖”、“南涝北旱”的气候变化,基于大气环流模式特别是区域气候模式的数值试验表明,夏季硫酸盐气溶胶的负辐射效应超过了温室气体的增暖效应,从而对变冷产生贡献。但现有的数值模拟证据,不足以说明气溶胶增加对“南涝北旱”型降水异常有贡献。20世纪中期以来,青藏高原主体存在明显增温趋势,温室气体浓度的增加对这种增暖有显著贡献。多模式集合预估的未来气候变化表明,21世纪全球平均温度将继续增暖,增温幅度因不同排放情景而异;中国大陆年均表面气温的增暖与全球同步,但增幅在东北、西部和华中地区较大,冬季升温幅度高于夏季、日最低温度升幅要强于日最高温度;全球增暖有可能对我国中东部植被的地理分布产生影响。伴随温室气体增加所导致的夏季平均温度升高,极端温度事件增多;在更暖的气候背景下,中国大部分地区总降水将增多,极端降水强度加大且更频繁发生,极端降水占总降水的比例也将增大。全球增暖有可能令大洋热盐环流减弱,但是减弱的幅度因模式而异。全球增暖可能不是导致北太平洋副热带－热带经圈环流自20世纪70年代以来变弱的原因。文章同时指出了模式预估结果中存在的不确定性。     

The Hindcast of Winter and Spring Arctic and Antarctic Oscillation with the Coupled Climate Models

This study evaluates the ability of the global coupled climate models in hindcasting the Arctic Oscillation (AO) and Antarctic Oscillation (AAO). The results show that the models can well simulate the spatial distribution of AO with better results in winter than in spring. In the troposphere in spring, the simulation of AO on the whole is still relatively good with a comparatively high correlation with the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis. The models can also well reproduce the spatial distribution of AAO throughout the year at all levels of the troposphere, and the spatial simulation is better at 850 hPa than at the surface. Although the simulation is better in winter than in other seasons, the seasonal variation is not so significant and the differences among different models are relatively small. In addition, the capability of the models for “predicting” the AO and the AAO index time series is limited, because only a few models can capture their observed interannual variability at the 95% significance level.     

Climatic changes associated with a global “2°C-stabilization” scenario simulated by the ECHAM5/MPI-OM coupled climate model

In this study, concentrations of the well-mixed greenhouse gases as well as the anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load and stratospheric ozone concentrations are prescribed to the ECHAM5/MPI-OM coupled climate model so that the simulated global warming does not exceed 2°C relative to pre-industrial times. The climatic changes associated with this so-called “2°C-stabilization” scenario are assessed in further detail, considering a variety of meteorological and oceanic variables. The climatic changes associated with such a relatively weak climate forcing supplement the recently published fourth assessment report by the IPCC in that such a stabilization scenario can only be achieved by mitigation initiatives. Also, the impact of the anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load and stratospheric ozone concentrations on the simulated climatic changes is investigated. For this particular climate model, the 2°C-stabilization scenario is characterized by the following atmospheric concentrations of the well-mixed greenhouse gases: 418 ppm (CO₂), 2,026 ppb (CH₄), and 331 ppb (N₂O), 786 ppt (CFC-11) and 486 ppt (CFC-12), respectively. These greenhouse gas concentrations correspond to those for 2020 according to the SRES A1B scenario. At the same time, the anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load and stratospheric ozone concentrations are changed to the level in 2100 (again, according to the SRES A1B scenario), with a global anthropogenic sulphur dioxide emission of 28 TgS/year leading to a global anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load of 0.23 TgS. The future changes in climate associated with the 2°C-stabilization scenario show many of the typical features of other climate change scenarios, including those associated with stronger climatic forcings. That are a pronounced warming, particularly at high latitudes accompanied by a marked reduction of the sea-ice cover, a substantial increase in precipitation in the tropics as well as at mid- and high latitudes in both hemispheres but a marked reduction in the subtropics, a significant strengthening of the meridional temperature gradient between the tropical upper troposphere and the lower stratosphere in the extratropics accompanied by a pronounced intensification of the westerly winds in the lower stratosphere, and a strengthening of the westerly winds in the Southern Hemisphere extratropics throughout the troposphere. The magnitudes of these changes, however, are somewhat weaker than for the scenarios associated with stronger global warming due to stronger climatic forcings, such as the SRES A1B scenario. Some of the climatic changes associated with the 2°C-stabilization are relatively strong with respect to the magnitude of the simulated global warming, i.e., the pronounced warming and sea-ice reduction in the Arctic region, the strengthening of the meridional temperature gradient at the northern high latitudes and the general increase in precipitation. Other climatic changes, i.e., the El Niño like warming pattern in the tropical Pacific Ocean and the corresponding changes in the distribution of precipitation in the tropics and in the Southern Oscillation, are not as markedly pronounced as for the scenarios with a stronger global warming. A higher anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load (for 2030 as compared to the level in 2100 according to the SRES A1B scenario) generally weakens the future changes in climate, particularly for precipitation. The most pronounced effects occur in the Northern Hemisphere and in the tropics, where also the main sources of anthropogenic sulphate aerosols are located.     

The global signature of the ENSO and SST-like fields

The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-like variability of various parameters and indices (e.g. sea surface temperature (SST)) is explored, by employing the last six decades of data on a global scale. We found that the ENSO signal in the SST field extends over tropics and subtropics, becoming maximum around 30° N and 30° S. The pronounced ENSO signal in the SST is observed over the southern tropics and subtropics. Additionally, the investigation of regional links between the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and SST revealed a new regional link, which extends in the tropical southern Pacific Ocean, where the effects of a long-lived pattern of SST are taking place. Furthermore, very strong SST-like surface temperature behaviour is observed over the equatorial Indian Ocean, being a new input to the assessment of “dangerous anthropogenic interference”. The above-mentioned findings could be employed to the advanced modelling development to improve climate change projections.     

耦合模式ICM模拟的近千年气候特征

利用中国科学院大气物理研究所季风系统研究中心发展的气候模式(Integrated Climate Model,ICM)开展了近千年气候模拟试验,考察了模式对过去千年温度和大气涛动变化的模拟,并分析了全球季风百年到千年尺度的变化。结果表明:模式对百年尺度气候变率有较好的模拟能力,900~1200年北半球平均表面温度偏高,1500~1800年温度偏低,模拟的北半球、南半球平均表面温度都呈现出了19世纪至2000年的快速增暖。模式对大气涛动百年尺度变化的模拟与重建资料存在较大的不同。全球季风在850~1050年、1150~1200年和1300~1420加强,在1210~1300年和1600~1850年减弱。1875~2000年全球季风指数呈直线上升趋势。中世纪气候异常期(MWP)季风强度在全球大部分季风区域增加,小冰期(LIA)则相反。20世纪暖期(PWP)全球季风强度显著增加,其中赤道西太平洋增加超过1 mm/d。     

Long-term variability of temperature and precipitation in the Czech Lands: an attribution analysis

Among the key problems associated with the study of climate variability and its evolution are identification of the factors responsible for observed changes and quantification of their effects. Here, correlation and regression analysis are employed to detect the imprints of selected natural forcings (solar and volcanic activity) and anthropogenic influences (amounts of greenhouse gases—GHGs—and atmospheric aerosols), as well as prominent climatic oscillations (Southern Oscillation—SO, North Atlantic Oscillation—NAO, Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation—AMO) in the Czech annual and monthly temperature and precipitation series for the 1866–2010 period. We show that the long-term evolution of Czech temperature change is dominated by the influence of an increasing concentration of anthropogenic GHGs (explaining most of the observed warming), combined with substantially lower, and generally statistically insignificant, contributions from the sulphate aerosols (mild cooling) and variations in solar activity (mild warming), but with no distinct imprint from major volcanic eruptions. A significant portion of the observed short-term temperature variability can be linked to the influence of NAO. The contributions from SO and AMO are substantially weaker in magnitude. Aside from NAO, no major influence from the explanatory variables was found in the precipitation series. Nonlinear forms of regression were used to test for nonlinear interactions between the predictors and temperature/precipitation; the nonlinearities disclosed were, however, very weak, or not detectable at all. In addition to the outcomes of the attribution analysis for the Czech series, results for European and global land temperatures are also shown and discussed.     

North Pacific SST Forcing on the Central United States “Warming Hole” as Simulated in CMIP5 Coupled Historical and Uncoupled AMIP Experiments

The central United States experienced a cooling trend during the twentieth century, called the “warming hole,” most notably in the last quarter of the century when global warming accelerated. The coupled simulations of the models that participated in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, Phases 3 and 5 (CMIP3/5), have been unable to reproduce this abnormal cooling phenomenon satisfactorily. An unrealistic representation of the observed phasing of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)—one of the proposed forcing mechanisms for the warming hole—in the models is considered to be one of the main causes of this effect. The CMIP5’s uncoupled Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) experiment, whose duration approximately coincides with the peak warming hole cooling period, provides an opportunity, when compared with the coupled historical experiment, to examine the role of the variation in Pacific Ocean sea surface temperature (SST) in the warming hole’s formation and also to assess the skill of the models in simulating the teleconnection between Pacific SST and the continental climate in North America. Accordingly, this study compared AMIP and historical runs in the CMIP5 suite thereby isolating the role of SST forcing in the formation of the warming hole and its maintenance mechanisms. It was found that, even when SST forcing in the AMIP run was “perfectly” prescribed in the models, the skill of the models in simulating the warming hole cooling in the central United States showed little improvement over the historical run, in which SST is calculated interactively, even though the AMIP run overestimated the anti-correlation between temperature in the central United States and the PDO index. The fact that better simulation of the PDO phasing in the AMIP run did not translate into an improved summer cooling trend in the central United States suggests that the inability of the coupled CMIP5 models to reproduce the warming hole under the historical run is not mainly a result of the mismatch between simulated and observed PDO phasing, as believed.     

Simulating the effects of the 1991 Mount Pinatubo volcanic eruption using the ARPEGE atmosphere general circulation model

The climate changes that occured following the volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Phillippines on 15 June 1991 have been simulated using the ARPEGE atmosphere general circulation model （AGCM）. The model was forced by a reconstructed spatial-time distribution of stratospheric aerosols intended for use in long climate simulations. Four statistical ensembles of the AGCM simulations with and without volcanic aerosols over a period of 5 years following the eruption have been made, and the calculated fields have been compared to available observations. The model is able to reproduce some of the observed features after the eruption, such as the winter warming pattern that was observed over the Northern Hemisphere （NH） during the following winters. This pattern was caused by an enhanced Equator-to-pole temperature gradient in the stratosphere that developed due to aerosol heating of the tropics. This in turn led to a strengthening of the polar vortex, which tends to modulate the planetary wave field in such a way that an anomalously positive Arctic Oscillation pattern is produced in the troposphere and at the surface, favouring warm conditions over the NH. During the summer, the model produced a more uniform cooling over the NH.     

On the tropical origin of uncertainties in the global land precipitation response to global warming

Understanding the response of the global hydrological cycle to recent and future anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols is a major challenge for the climate modelling community. Recent climate scenarios produced for the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are analysed here to explore the geographical origin of, and the possible reasons for, uncertainties in the hydrological model response to global warming. Using the twentieth century simulations and the SRES-A2 scenarios from eight different coupled ocean–atmosphere models, it is shown that the main uncertainties originate from the tropics, where even the sign of the zonal mean precipitation change remains uncertain over land. Given the large interannual fluctuations of tropical precipitation, it is then suggested that the El Niño Southern Ocillation (ENSO) variability can be used as a surrogate of climate change to better constrain the model reponse. While the simulated sensitivity of global land precipitation to global mean surface temperature indeed shows a remarkable similarity between the interannual and climate change timescales respectively, the model ability to capture the ENSO-precipitation relationship is not a major constraint on the global hydrological projections. Only the model that exhibits the highest precipitation sensitivity clearly appears as an outlier. Besides deficiencies in the simulation of the ENSO-tropical rainfall teleconnections, the study indicates that uncertainties in the twenty-first century evolution of these teleconnections represent an important contribution to the model spread, thus emphasizing the need for improving the simulation of the tropical Pacific variability to provide more reliable scenarios of the global hydrological cycle. It also suggests that validating the mean present-day climate is not sufficient to assess the reliability of climate projections, and that interannual variability is another suitable and possibly more useful candidate for constraining the model response. Finally, it is shown that uncertainties in precipitation change are, like precipitation itself, very unevenly distributed over the globe, the most vulnerable countries sometimes being those where the anticipated precipitation changes are the most uncertain.     

全球变暖中的科学问题

2013年各国政府间气候变化专门委员会（IPCC）第一工作组发布了第五次气候变化科学评估报告,以大量的观测分析和气候模式模拟证据,继续强调由于人类排放增加,全球正在变暖,未来将继续变暖的观点。本文综述研究全球变暖的几个深层次的科学问题,即多套全球气温观测资料的差异、不同标准气候态时段的作用、20世纪全球变暖的检测和归因及未来全球气温变化的走向,以此提出需进一步研究的科学问题。结果表明;需要进一步提高观测资料的质量;注意不同标准气候态时段对应的数值的不同;应进一步改善气候模式模拟年代际变率的能力及研究近15 a全球变暖减缓和停滞的原因,从而改善气候模式的模拟效果;造成预估未来全球气候变化的不确定性主要来自气候模式的差异、未来排放情景的差异及气候系统内部变率影响和自然外强迫的作用。     

Impact of ocean model resolution on CCSM climate simulations

The current literature provides compelling evidence suggesting that an eddy-resolving (as opposed to eddy-permitting or eddy-parameterized) ocean component model will significantly impact the simulation of the large-scale climate, although this has not been fully tested to date in multi-decadal global coupled climate simulations. The purpose of this paper is to examine how resolved ocean fronts and eddies impact the simulation of large-scale climate. The model used for this study is the NCAR Community Climate System Model version 3.5 (CCSM3.5)—the forerunner to CCSM4. Two experiments are reported here. The control experiment is a 155-year present-day climate simulation using a 0.5° atmosphere component (zonal resolution 0.625 meridional resolution 0.5°; land surface component at the same resolution) coupled to ocean and sea-ice components with zonal resolution of 1.2° and meridional resolution varying from 0.27° at the equator to 0.54° in the mid-latitudes. The second simulation uses the same atmospheric and land-surface models coupled to eddy-resolving 0.1° ocean and sea-ice component models. The simulations are compared in terms of how the representation of smaller scale features in the time mean ocean circulation and ocean eddies impact the mean and variable climate. In terms of the global mean surface temperature, the enhanced ocean resolution leads to a ubiquitous surface warming with a global mean surface temperature increase of about 0.2?°C relative to the control. The warming is largest in the Arctic and regions of strong ocean fronts and ocean eddy activity (i.e., Southern Ocean, western boundary currents). The Arctic warming is associated with significant losses of sea-ice in the high-resolution simulation. The sea surface temperature gradients in the North Atlantic, in particular, are better resolved in the high-resolution model leading to significantly sharper temperature gradients and associated large-scale shifts in the rainfall. In the extra-tropics, the interannual temperature variability is increased with the resolved eddies, and a notable increases in the amplitude of the El Ni?o and the Southern Oscillation is also detected. Changes in global temperature anomaly teleconnections and local air-sea feedbacks are also documented and show large changes in ocean–atmosphere coupling. In particular, local air-sea feedbacks are significantly modified by the increased ocean resolution. In the high-resolution simulation in the extra-tropics there is compelling evidence of stronger forcing of the atmosphere by SST variability arising from ocean dynamics. This coupling is very weak or absent in the low-resolution model.     

Climatic timescale temperature and precipitation increases on long Island,New York

Abstract

Global warming due to increased greenhouse gases is believed to result in not only higher surface temperatures but also an acceleration of the hydrological cycle leading to increased precipitation. Although climate models consistently predict increases in global temperatures due to increasing greenhouse gases and the accompanying global warming, observations at the climatic timescales necessary to confirm the models are rare. Multidecadal studies at global and regional scales are necessary to determine whether the presently observed changes in temperature and precipitation are due to short‐term fluctuations or long‐term trends. In this study, we address this issue by examining changes in temperature and precipitation on Long Island, New York over a 74‐year time period (1931 to 2004) using a network of rain gauges and temperature measurements. The mean annual temperature on Long Island has increased at a rate of 0.05°C per decade, which is less than that of observed global values and is most likely due to the urban warming effects of New York City, not large‐scale climate change. The mean total annual precipitation has increased at a rate of 0.71 cm per decade during the study period, which is consistent with global observations. Intra‐annual temperature fluctuations are decreasing at a rate of 0.36% per decade, while precipitation variations are increasing at a rate of 0.91% per decade. Empirical orthogonal function analysis indicates that variations in temperature and precipitation on Long Island are dominated by island‐wide fluctuations that are directly related to the North Atlantic Oscillation, the Arctic Oscillation, and the El Niño Southern Oscillation.