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.     

FGOALS海洋同化试验对西北太平洋夏季SST—降水关系的模拟评估

评估了耦合气候系统模式FGOALS海洋同化试验对西北太平洋夏季降水和SST相关关系的模拟技巧,并对比了相应的观测海温强迫试验（AMIP）和历史气候模拟试验结果。结果显示,FGOALS海洋同化试验对亚洲季风区大部分海域夏季SST年际变化有较高的模拟技巧,但其对菲律宾以东海域模拟技巧较低。在西北太平洋夏季降水-SST相关关系方面,同化试验部分地再现了南海和菲律宾以东海域降水超前SST变化1个月和同时二者的负相关关系,优于AMIP试验但逊于自由耦合模拟试验。同化试验对SST倾向-降水相关关系的模拟技巧亦介于AMIP试验和自由耦合试验之间。观测中,西北太平洋夏季降水与环流异常受日界线附近和赤道东印度洋海洋大陆地区海温异常的遥强迫,并通过改变到达海表的净短波辐射通量影响局地SST异常,导致局地海温-降水和局地海温倾向-降水的负相关关系。在AMIP试验中,遥强迫导致的西北太平洋地区环流异常较之观测偏弱,由于缺少局地海气耦合过程,在西北太平洋多数地区表现为海温对大气的强迫作用,即SST-降水正相关关系。FGOALS同化试验和自由耦合试验考虑了局地海气耦合过程,虽然低估了遥强迫对西北太平洋地区夏季环流异常的影响,依然部分模拟出局地降水-SST负相关关系但较之观测偏弱。同时,自由耦合试验高估了西北太平洋20°N以南地区海温异常对大气环流异常的强迫,使得其对中国南海和日本岛以南海域SST-降水负相关关系的模拟稍优于同化试验。     

Opposing Trends of Winter Cold Extremes over Eastern Eurasia and North America under Recent Arctic Warming

Under recent Arctic warming, boreal winters have witnessed severe cold surges over both Eurasia and North America,bringing about serious social and economic impacts. Here, we investigated the changes in daily surface air temperature(SAT) variability during the rapid Arctic warming period of 1988/89–2015/16, and found the daily SAT variance, mainly contributed by the sub-seasonal component, shows an increasing and decreasing trend over eastern Eurasia and North America, respectively. Increasing c...     

The intraseasonal oscillation in ECHAM4 Part I: coupled to a comprehensive ocean model

This study discusses the representation of the intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) in three simulations with the ECHAM4 atmosphere general circulation model (GCM). First, the model is forced by AMIP sea surface temperatures (SST), then coupled to the OPYC3 global ocean GCM and third forced by OPYC3 SSTs to clarify possible air-sea interactions and connections of the ISO and the ENSO cycle. The simulations are compared to ECMWF reanalysis data and NOAA outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) observations. Although previous studies have shown that the ECHAM4 GCM simulates an ISO-like oscillation, the main deficits are an overly fast eastward propagation and an eastward displacement of the main ISO activity, which is shown with a composite analysis of daily data between 1984 to 1988 for the reanalysis and the AMIP simulation, 25 years of the coupled integration, and a five year subset of the coupled SST output used for the OPYC3 forced atmosphere GCM experiment. These deficits are common to many atmospheric GCMs. The composites are obtained by principal oscillation pattern (POP). The POPs are also used to investigate the propagation speed and the interannual variability of the main ISO activity. The present coupled model version reveals no clear improvements in the ISO simulation compared to the uncoupled version forced with OPYC3 SSTs, although it is shown that the modeled ISO influences the simulated high-frequency SST variability in the coupled GCM. Within the current analysis, ECHAM4 forced by AMIP SSTs provides the most reasonable ISO simulation. However, it is shown that the maximum amplitudes of the annual cycle of the ISO variability in all analyzed model versions are reached too late in the year (spring and summer) compared to the observations (winter and spring). Additionally, the ENSO cycle influences the interannual variability of the ISO, which is revealed by 20 years of daily reanalysis data and 100 years of the coupled integration. The ENSO cycle is simulated by the coupled model, although there is a roughly 1 K cold bias in the East Pacific in the coupled model. This leads to a diminished influence of the ENSO cycle on the spatial variability of the modeled ISO activity compared to observations. This points out the strong sensitivity of the SST on the ISO activity. Small biases in the SST appear to cause large deterioration in the modeled ISO.     

Pacific Walker Circulation variability in coupled and uncoupled climate models

There is still considerable uncertainty concerning twentieth century trends in the Pacific Walker Circulation (PWC). In this paper, observational datasets, coupled (CMIP5) and uncoupled (AGCM) model simulations, and additional numerical sensitivity experiments are analyzed to investigate twentieth century changes in the PWC and their physical mechanisms. The PWC weakens over the century in the CMIP5 simulations, but strengthens in the AGCM simulations and also in the observational twentieth century reanalysis (20CR) dataset. It is argued that the weakening in the CMIP5 simulations is not a consequence of a reduced global convective mass flux expected from simple considerations of the global hydrological response to global warming, but is rather due to a weakening of the zonal equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) gradient. Further clarification is provided by additional uncoupled atmospheric general circulation model simulations in which the ENSO-unrelated and ENSO-related portions of the observed SST changes are prescribed as lower boundary conditions. Both sets of SST forcing fields have a global warming trend, and both sets of simulations produce a weakening of the global convective mass flux. However, consistent with the strong role of the zonal SST gradient, the PWC strengthens in the simulations with the ENSO-unrelated SST forcing, which has a strengthening zonal SST gradient, despite the weakening of the global convective mass flux. Overall, our results suggest that the PWC strengthened during twentieth century global warming, but also that this strengthening was partly masked by a weakening trend associated with ENSO-related PWC variability.     

中国近海海表温度对气候变暖及暂缓的显著响应

基于多套全球海温再分析数据和2种线性趋势分析方法,评估了1958-2014年中国近海海表温度（SST）的变化及其对全球气候变化的响应特征,并与全球平均地表温度特别是与若干重要海区的SST做了比较。研究表明：在全球变暖的显著加速期（1980年代和1990年代）,中国近海区域年平均SST表现出更快速的升温特征,其速率达0.60℃/10a,是同期全球平均升温速率的5倍以上;在变暖暂缓期（1998-2014年）,中国近海SST出现显著的下降趋势。研究还表明,中国近海区域SST的年代际变化与太平洋年代际涛动（PDO）的位相转换一致,前者SST的快速上升（下降）期与PDO正（负）位相最大值的时期相对应,PDO可能是通过东亚季风和黑潮影响中国近海SST的年代际变化。     

Long-term behaviors of two versions of FGOALS2 in preindustrial control simulations with implications for 20th century simulations

Climate drift in preindustrial control (PICTL) simulations can lead to spurious climate trends and large uncertainties in historical and future climate simulations in coupled models. This study examined the long-term behaviors and stabilities of the PICTL simulations in the two versions of FGOALS2 (the Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System model Version 2), which have been submitted to the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). As verified by examining time series of thermal fields and their linear trends, the PICTL simulations showed stable long-term integration behaviors and no obvious climate drift [the magnitudes of linear trends of SST were both less than 0.04oC (100 yr)-1] over multiple centuries. The changed SSTs in a century (that corresponded to the linear trends) were less than the standard deviations of annual mean values, which implied the internal variability was not affected. These trend values were less than 10% of those of global averaged SST from observations and historical runs during the periods of slow and rapid warming. Such stable long-term integration behaviors reduced the uncertainty of the estimation of global warming rates in the historical and future climate projections in the two versions of FGOALS2. Compared with the trends in the Northern Hemisphere, larger trends existed in the SST and sea ice extents at the middle to high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere (SH). To estimate the historical and future climate trends in the SH or at some specific regions in FGOALS2, corrections needed to be carried out. The similar long-term behaviors in the two versions of FGOALS2 may be attributed to proper physical processes in the ocean model.     

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.     

A Coupling Experiment of an Atmosphere and an Ocean Model with a Monthly Anomaly Exchange Scheme

A nine-layer spectral atmospheric general circulation model is coupled to a twenty-layer global oceanic general circulation model with the “prediction-correction” monthly anomaly exchange scheme which has been proposed at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP). A forty-year integration of the coupled model shows that the CGCM is fairly successful in keeping a reasonable pattern of the modelled SST although most of the Pacific become warmer than those given by the uncoupled ocean model. The model tends to reach a more realistic state than the uncoupled one in terms of downward surface heat flux into ocean particularly in the equatorial Pacific region. Also, the model is capable to simulate interannual variability of sea surface temperature in tropical region.     

Is There a Link between Arctic Sea Ice Loss and Increasing Frequency of Extremely Cold Winters in Eurasia and North America? Synthesis of Current Research

Studies dealing with impact of the Arctic warming and related sea ice decline on the Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation are considered. The causes of occurrence of extremely cold winters over the mid-latitude continents observed in the recent decades against the warming background are discussed. Several conceptions are outlined which explain potential reasons for occurrence of this phenomenon. The paper discusses impacts of the Arctic sea ice loss on the large-scale atmospheric circulation, oscillations of planetary waves. It also discusses issues related to sea ice changes in the Barents and Kara seas and their link to the frequency of extremely cold winters observed in Eurasia and North America, the contribution of internal atmospheric variability to the increasing frequency of cold weather, and the role of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation in the Arctic sea ice reduction.     

A Nine-layer Atmospheric General Circulation Model and Its Performance

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Extratropical large-scale air-sea interaction in a coupled and uncoupled ocean-atmosphere model

Spatial patterns of mid-latitude large-scale ocean-atmosphere interaction on monthly to seasonal time scales have been observed to exhibit a similar structure in both the North Pacific and North Atlantic basins. These patterns have been interpreted as a generic oceanic response to surface wind anomalies, whereby the anomalous winds give rise to corresponding anomalous regions of surface heat flux and consequent oceanic cooling. This mechanistic concept is investigated in this study using numerical models of a global atmosphere and a mid-latitude ocean basin (nominally the Atlantic). The models were run in both coupled and uncoupled mode. Model output was used to generate multi-year time series of monthly mean fields. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) and singular value decomposition (SVD) analyses were then used to obtain the principal patterns of variability in heat flux, air temperature, wind speed, and sea surface temperature (SST), and to determine the relationships among these variables. SVD analysis indicates that the turbulent heat flux from the ocean to the atmosphere is primarily controlled by the surface scalar wind speed, and to a lesser extent by air temperature and SST. The principal patterns of air-sea interaction are closely analogous to those found in observational data. In the atmosphere, the pattern consists of a simultaneous strengthening (or weakening) of the mid-latitude westerlies and the easterly trades. In the ocean there is cooling (warming) under the anomalously strong (weak) westerlies and trade winds, with a weaker warming (cooling) in the region separating the westerly and easterly wind regimes. These patterns occur in both coupled and uncoupled models and the primary influence of the coupling is in localizing the interaction patterns. The oceanic patterns can be explained by the principal patterns of surface heat flux and the attendant warming or cooling of the ocean mixed layer.     

Summertime land–sea thermal contrast and atmospheric circulation over East Asia in a warming climate—Part II: Importance of CO2-induced continental warming

In this the second of a two-part study, we examine the physical mechanisms responsible for the increasing contrast of the land–sea surface air temperature (SAT) in summertime over the Far East, as observed in recent decades and revealed in future climate projections obtained from a series of transient warming and sensitivity experiments conducted under the umbrella of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5. On a global perspective, a strengthening of land–sea SAT contrast in the transient warming simulations of coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation models is attributed to an increase in sea surface temperature (SST). However, in boreal summer, the strengthened contrast over the Far East is reproduced only by increasing atmospheric CO₂ concentration. In response to SST increase alone, the tropospheric warming over the interior of the mid- to high-latitude continents including Eurasia are weaker than those over the surrounding oceans, leading to a weakening of the land–sea SAT contrast over the Far East. Thus, the increasing contrast and associated change in atmospheric circulation over East Asia is explained by CO₂-induced continental warming. The degree of strengthening of the land–sea SAT contrast varies in different transient warming scenarios, but is reproduced through a combination of the CO₂-induced positive and SST-induced negative contributions to the land–sea contrast. These results imply that changes of climate patterns over the land–ocean boundary regions are sensitive to future scenarios of CO₂ concentration pathways including extreme cases.     

Physical processes responsible for the interannual variability of sea ice concentration in Arctic in boreal autumn since 1979

Arctic sea ice concentration (ASIC) in boreal autumn exhibits prominent interannual variability since 1979. The physical mechanism responsible for the year-to-year variation of ASIC is investigated through observational data analyses and idealized numerical modeling. It is found that the ASIC interannual variability is closely associated with the anomalous meridional circulations over the Northern Hemisphere, which is further linked with the tropical sea surface temperature (SST) forcing. A tropics-wide SST cooling anomaly leads to an enhanced meridional SST gradient to the north of the equator in boreal summer, generating strengthened and northward shifting Hadley circulation over the Northern Hemisphere. Consequently, the meridional circulations are enhanced and pushed poleward, leading to an enhanced descending motion at the North Pole, surrounded by an ascending motion anomaly; the surface outflow turns into easterly anomalies, opposing the mean-state winds. As a result, positive cloudiness and weakened surface wind speed emerge, which reduce ASIC through changes in the surface latent heat flux and the downward longwave radiation.     

A link between Arctic sea ice and recent cooling trends over Eurasia

A band of cooling that extends across mid-latitude Eurasia is identified in the wintertime surface air temperatures of the latest ECMWF reanalysis. This cooling is related to extreme warming around the Kara Sea through changes in the meridional temperature gradient. Surface temperatures in the Arctic have risen faster than those at lower latitudes, and as the Arctic warming increases, this north–south temperature gradient is weakened. This change in the meridional temperature gradient causes a decrease in the westerly winds that help maintain the mild European climate by transporting heat from the Atlantic. Since decreasing sea ice concentrations have been shown to be a driving factor in Arctic amplification, a singular value decomposition analysis is used to confirm the co-variability of the Arctic sea ice, including the Kara Sea, and the temperatures over the mid-latitude Eurasia. These findings suggest that decreasing sea ice concentrations can change the meridional temperature gradient and hence the large-scale atmospheric flow of the Northern Hemisphere.     

Intermodel Diversity of Simulated Long-term Changes in the Austral Winter Southern Annular Mode: Role of the Southern Ocean Dipole

The Southern Annular Mode(SAM)plays an important role in regulating Southern Hemisphere extratropical circulation.State-of-the-art models exhibit intermodel spread in simulating long-term changes in the SAM.Results from Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project(AMIP)experiments from 28 models archived in CMIP5 show that the intermodel spread in the linear trend in the austral winter(June?July?August)SAM is significant,with an intermodel standard deviation of 0.28(10 yr)?1,larger than the multimodel ensemble mean of 0.18(10 yr)?1.This study explores potential factors underlying the model difference from the aspect of extratropical sea surface temperature(SST).Extratropical SST anomalies related to the SAM exhibit a dipole-like structure between middle and high latitudes,referred to as the Southern Ocean Dipole(SOD).The role of SOD-like SST anomalies in influencing the SAM is found in the AMIP simulations.Model performance in simulating the SAM trend is linked with model skill in reflecting the SOD?SAM relationship.Models with stronger linkage between the SOD and the SAM tend to simulate a stronger SAM trend.The explained variance is about 40%in the AMIP runs.These results suggest improved simulation of the SOD?SAM relationship may help reproduce long-term changes in the SAM.     

Recent Rapid Decline of the Arctic Winter Sea Ice in the Barents–Kara Seas Owing to Combined Effects of the Ural Blocking and SST

This study investigates why the Arctic winter sea ice loss over the Barents–Kara Seas (BKS) is accelerated in the recent decade. We first divide 1979–2013 into two time periods: 1979–2000 (P1) and 2001–13 (P2), with a focus on P2 and the difference between P1 and P2. The results show that during P2, the rapid decline of the sea ice over the BKS is related not only to the high sea surface temperature (SST) over the BKS, but also to the increased frequency, duration, and quasi-stationarity of the Ural blocking (UB) events. Observational analysis reveals that during P2, the UB tends to become quasi stationary and its frequency tends to increase due to the weakening (strengthening) of zonal winds over the Eurasia (North Atlantic) when the surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly over the BKS is positive probably because of the high SST. Strong downward infrared (IR) radiation is seen to occur together with the quasi-stationary and persistent UB because of the accumulation of more water vapor over the BKS. Such downward IR favors the sea ice decline over the BKS, although the high SST over the BKS plays a major role. But for P1, the UB becomes westward traveling due to the opposite distribution of zonal winds relative to P2, resulting in weak downward IR over the BKS. This may lead to a weak decline of the sea ice over the BKS. Thus, it is likely that the rapid decline of the sea ice over the BKS during P2 is attributed to the joint effects of the high SST over the BKS and the quasi-stationary and long-lived UB events.     

近20 a驱动北极夏季迅速增暖和融冰的自然因素及过程

北极是全球气候系统平衡的重要一环,近20 a全球变暖现象中,北极迅速增温及融冰是最为引人关注的问题之一.人类影响无疑是过去几十年北极变暖背后的最主要的原因及驱动力,但气候系统的内在自然变率对北极的影响也不容忽视.本文指出,北极变暖的自然影响因子有一部分来源于热带太平洋东部海温的变化,热带太平洋通过由东部海温异常所驱动的...     

Mechanism on how the spring Arctic sea ice impacts the East Asian summer monsoon

Observational analysis and purposely designed coupled atmosphere–ocean (AOGCM) and atmosphere-only (AGCM) model simulations are used together to investigate a new mechanism describing how spring Arctic sea ice impacts the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM). Consistent with previous studies, analysis of observational data from 1979 to 2009 show that spring Arctic sea ice is significantly linked to the EASM on inter-annual timescales. Results of a multivariate Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis reveal that sea surface temperature (SST) changes in the North Pacific play a mediating role for the inter-seasonal connection between spring Arctic sea ice and the EASM. Large-scale atmospheric circulation and precipitation changes are consistent with the SST changes. The mechanism found in the observational data is confirmed by the numerical experiments and can be described as follows: spring Arctic sea ice anomalies cause atmospheric circulation anomalies, which, in turn, cause SST anomalies in the North Pacific. The SST anomalies can persist into summer and then impact the summer monsoon circulation and precipitation over East Asia. The mediating role of SST changes is highlighted by the result that only the AOGCM, but not the AGCM, reproduces the observed sea ice-EASM linkage.     

全球变暖减缓背景下欧亚秋冬温度变化特征和原因

采用气候序列变化趋势诊断和一元线性回归等分析法,研究和讨论了2000-2012年和1976-1999年两种年代际背景下全球陆地不同区域的年平均地表温度的变化特征。发现欧亚大陆中高纬度地区是对全球变暖减缓贡献最大的区域。且该地区在2000年以来秋季年代际增温,而冬季年代际降温。从同期大气环流的配置来看,在对流层低层,秋季西伯利亚高气压年代际减弱,而冬季西伯利亚高气压年代际增强。在对流层中高层,秋季从西欧至东北亚为"高-低-高"的高度场异常分布,纬向环流加强,经向环流减弱,而冬季极地与贝加尔湖地区的高度场呈偶极型分布,东亚大槽加深,经向环流加强。进一步研究发现,超前一个季节的喀拉海附近的海冰与欧亚中高纬度秋冬两季温度的年代际变率有着密切的联系。一方面,夏季(秋季)海冰减少影响秋季(冬季)中高纬度大气环流;另一方面,夏季(秋季)海冰减少,使得秋季(冬季)从北极至中高纬度大陆的对流层低层水汽含量增加(减少),大气逆辐射增强(减弱)导致秋季(冬季)增温(降温)。