An Ocean Dynamical Thermostat

Clement, A. C.; Seager, Richard; Cane, Mark A.; Zebiak, Stephen E.

doi:10.1175/1520-0442(1996)009<2190:aodt>2.0.co;2

Cited by 503 publications

(494 citation statements)

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“…With a warmer WPWP at surface, the stronger zonal SST gradient agrees well with the "ocean thermostat" hypothesis [3] and may indicate a solar forced ENSO-like response [14] at centennial scales. Further, the enhanced meridional TWT gradient is reversed with a meridional SST gradient (with warmer WPWP and relative cooler SST north of 30°N) in Western Pacific (Figure 2(a)).…”

Section: Solar Forced Sst and Twt Responses In Pacificsupporting

confidence: 74%

“…This 3-D ocean general circulation model is coupled to a 2-D energy-moisture balance atmospheric model with dynamical feedbacks, a dynamicthermodynamic sea-ice model and a land surface scheme. To isolate the thermal response of Pacific upper water from internal variability, the atmospheric dynamical feedback option (which may damp the "ocean thermostat" mechanism [3]) has not been included in this application and the model uses prescribed present-day winds in its climatology. Weaver et al [17] further described the model version (including the atmospheric, Ocean and sea ice model), its ability in reproducing the observed Pacific SST/TWT structures, and its sensitivity to transient solar forcing in global warming experiments.…”

Section: Model Experiments and Data Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Clement et al [3] proposed that uniform heating over the entire tropical region will warm the Pacific more in the west than in the east and strengthen the zonal equatorial Sea surface temperature (SST) gradient. So the Pacific upper water thermal structure may act as a transmitter of solar forcing with a La Nina-like SST pattern in Pacific during solar maxima periods [4,5].…”

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confidence: 99%

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Solar forced transient evolution of Pacific upper water thermal structure during the Holocene in an earth system model of intermediate complexity

et al. 2012

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Forced by transient solar activities since 7 ka, the thermal structures of the Pacific upper water at boreal winter are featured by an enhanced response of 3-dimensional Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) in an Earth system model of Intermediate Complexity at centennial scales. During solar maximum periods, the magnitude of surface ocean temperature variations is 30% larger in the western tropical Pacific than in the Niño3 region, while at subsurface, it is 40% larger in the subtropical North Pacific than in the western Equatorial Pacific. They compromise stronger zonal and meridional thermal gradients in surface and subsurface Pacific respectively which are both linearly responded to solar forcing at centennial periods. The surface gradient is most sensitive at 208-year period while the subsurface gradient shows more significance at periods longer than 208-year. Also noteworthy are two differences: (1) the phase lags at these periods of surface gradient are slightly smaller than that of subsurface; (2) the 148-year and 102-year periods in surface gradient are lost in subsurface gradient. These modeled features preliminary confirm the centennial fluctuations of WPWP in paleo-proxies and a potential solar forcing during the Holocene.

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Section: Solar Forced Sst and Twt Responses In Pacificsupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Model Experiments and Data Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Solar forced transient evolution of Pacific upper water thermal structure during the Holocene in an earth system model of intermediate complexity

et al. 2012

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“…We explore this idea using a synthesis of globally distributed proxy records and results from new coupled model experiments examining the response to a warmer Indian-West Pacific Ocean. The model results are also discussed in the context of previous experiments bearing on the role of tropical SSTs in driving recent and past climate change (e.g., Rodwell et al 1999;Branstator 2000;Hoerling et al 2001;Bader and Latif 2003;Giannini et al 2003;Hurrell et al 2004;Hoerling et al 2004;Deser and Phillips 2006;Seager et al 2008), and others examining the climate response to changes in irradiance and high latitude temperatures (e.g., Clement et al 1996;Shindell et al 2001;Meehl et al 2003;Sun et al 2004;Mann et al 2005;Pierce et al 2006;Ammann et al 2007;Timmermann et al 2007a, b, Lu et al 2007). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Support for global climate reorganization during the “Medieval Climate Anomaly”

et al. 2010

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Widely distributed proxy records indicate that the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA; *900-1350 AD) was characterized by coherent shifts in large-scale Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation patterns. Although cooler sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific can explain some aspects of medieval circulation changes, they are not sufficient to account for other notable features, including widespread aridity through the Eurasian sub-tropics, stronger winter westerlies across the North Atlantic and Western Europe, and shifts in monsoon rainfall patterns across Africa and South Asia. We present results from a full-physics coupled climate model showing that a slight warming of the tropical Indian and western Pacific Oceans relative to the other tropical ocean basins can induce a broad range of the medieval circulation and climate changes indicated by proxy data, including many of those not explained by a cooler tropical Pacific alone. Important aspects of the results resemble those from previous simulations examining the climatic response to the rapid Indian Ocean warming during the late twentieth century, and to results from climate warming simulations-especially in indicating an expansion of the Northern Hemisphere Hadley circulation. Notably, the pattern of tropical Indo-Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) change responsible for producing the proxy-model similarity in our results agrees well with MCA-LIA SST differences obtained in a recent proxy-based climate field reconstruction. Though much remains unclear, our results indicate that the MCA was characterized by an enhanced zonal Indo-Pacific SST gradient with resulting changes in Northern Hemisphere tropical and extra-tropical circulation patterns and hydroclimate regimes, linkages that may explain the coherent regional climate shifts indicated by proxy records from across the planet. The findings provide new perspectives on the nature and possible causes of the MCA-a remarkable, yet incompletely understood episode of Late Holocene climatic change.

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“…At a global scale, major shifts in climate at this time are hypothesised to be a result of a strongly positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) (Trouet et al, 2009), together with a shift towards a La Niña -like mean state in the Pacific (Clement et al, 1996;Mann et al, 2009). We assess the nature and timing of a major pluvial episode in southern central Australia that corresponds to the MCA by excavating relict shorelines and dating them with a range of independent dating techniques.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A pluvial episode identified in arid Australia during the Medieval Climatic Anomaly

Cohen

Nanson

Jansen

et al. 2012

Quaternary Science Reviews

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Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from a relict shoreline on Lake Callabonna record a major pluvial episode in southern central Australia between 1050 ± 70 and 1100 ± 60 Common Era (CE), within the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA). During this pluvial interval Lake Callabonna filled to 10-12 times the volume of the largest historical filling (1974) and reached maximum depths of 4-5 m, compared to the 0.5-1.0 m achieved today. Until now there has been no direct evidence for the MCA in the arid interior of Australia. A multi-proxy, analogue-based atmospheric circulation reconstruction indicates that the pluvial episode was associated with an anomalous meridional atmospheric circulation pattern over the Southern extratropics, with high sea-level pressure ridges in the central Indian Ocean and Tasman Sea, and a trough extending from the Southern Ocean into central Australia. A major decline in the mobility of the Australian aboriginal hunter-gatherer coincides with this MCA period, in southern central Australia. AbstractOptically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from a relict shoreline on Lake Callabonna

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An Ocean Dynamical Thermostat

Cited by 503 publications

References 0 publications

Solar forced transient evolution of Pacific upper water thermal structure during the Holocene in an earth system model of intermediate complexity

Solar forced transient evolution of Pacific upper water thermal structure during the Holocene in an earth system model of intermediate complexity

Support for global climate reorganization during the “Medieval Climate Anomaly”

A pluvial episode identified in arid Australia during the Medieval Climatic Anomaly

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