A dynamical link between the Arctic and the global climate system

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Editor's Highlight Read Full Article (file size: 681355 bytes) Cited by GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 33, L03703, doi:10.1029/2005GL025245, 2006 A dynamical link between the Arctic and the global climate system K. Dethloff Research Unit Potsdam, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany A. Rinke Research Unit Potsdam, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany A. Benkel GKSS Research Center, Institute of Coastal Research, Geesthacht, Germany M. Køltzow Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Oslo, Norway E. Sokolova Research Unit Potsdam, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany S. Kumar Saha Research Unit Potsdam, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany D. Handorf Research Unit Potsdam, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany W. Dorn Research Unit Potsdam, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany B. Rockel GKSS Research Center, Institute of Coastal Research, Geesthacht, Germany H. von Storch GKSS Research Center, Institute of Coastal Research, Geesthacht, Germany J. E. Haugen Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Oslo, Norway L. P. Røed Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Oslo, Norway E. Roeckner Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany J. H. Christensen Danish Meterorological Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark M. Stendel Danish Meterorological Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark Abstract By means of simulations with a global coupled AOGCM it is shown that changes in the polar energy sink region can exert a strong influence on the mid- and high-latitude climate by modulating the strength of the mid-latitude westerlies and storm tracks. It is found, that a more realistic sea-ice and snow albedo treatment changes the ice-albedo feedback and the radiative exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean-sea-ice system. The planetary wave energy fluxes in the middle troposphere of mid-latitudes between 30 and 50°N are redistributed, which induces perturbations in the zonal and meridional planetary wave trains from the tropics over the mid-latitudes into the Arctic. It is shown, that the improved parameterization of Arctic sea-ice and snow albedo can trigger changes in the Arctic and North Atlantic Oscillation pattern with strong implications for the European climate. Received 16 November 2005; accepted 15 December 2005; published 1 February 2006. Index Terms: 1616 Global Change: Climate variability (1635, 3305, 3309, 4215, 4513); 1620 Global Change: Climate dynamics (0429, 3309); 1622 Global Change: Earth system modeling (1225); 1626 Global Change: Global climate models (3337, 4928). Read Full Article (file size: 681355 bytes) Cited by Citation: Dethloff, K., et al. (2006), A dynamical link between the Arctic and the global climate system, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L03703, doi:10.1029/2005GL025245. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.

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