Anthropogenic changes of the thermal and zonal flow structure over Western Europe and Eastern North Atlantic in CMIP3 and CMIP5 models

The anthropogenic changes during boreal winter in the thermal and zonal flow structure over Eastern Atlantic and Western Europe (EAWE) have been investigated using an ensemble of CMIP3 and CMIP5 models. The ensemble mean change in the zonal wind at 500 hPa over this region is characterized by an eastward extension of the belt of zonal winds. Using the thermal wind relation these wind changes are found to be consistent with the changes in the tropospheric temperature profile. An enhanced warming is simulated in the subtropical upper troposphere and a relative surface cooling in the mid-latitudes. The subtropical upper tropospheric warming is related to the downward branch of the mean meridional circulation, whereas the mid-latitude lower tropospheric relative cooling is linked to the ocean processes that govern changes in its surface temperatures. Inter-model differences in the simulated change of the zonal wind over the EAWE by the CMIP3 and CMIP5 models relate well with differences in the upper tropospheric subtropical warming and the mid-latitude lower tropospheric relative cooling. The simulated change of the zonal wind over the EAWE region by the CMIP3 and CMIP5 models correlates well with changes in the meridional SST gradient. We conclude that uncertainties in the projected changes of the zonal flow over Europe are at least partly due to uncertainties in the response of the North Atlantic Ocean to increased levels of greenhouse gases.