Antarctic sea ice multidecadal variability triggered by Southern Annular Mode and deep convection
Abstract Antarctic sea ice exerts great influence on Earth’s climate by controlling the exchange of heat, momentum, freshwater, and gases between the atmosphere and ocean. Antarctic sea ice extent has undergone a multidecadal slight increase followed by a substantial decline since 2016. Here we util...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Communications Earth & Environment |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01783-z |
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| author | Yushi Morioka Syukuro Manabe Liping Zhang Thomas L. Delworth William Cooke Masami Nonaka Swadhin K. Behera |
| author_facet | Yushi Morioka Syukuro Manabe Liping Zhang Thomas L. Delworth William Cooke Masami Nonaka Swadhin K. Behera |
| author_sort | Yushi Morioka |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Antarctic sea ice exerts great influence on Earth’s climate by controlling the exchange of heat, momentum, freshwater, and gases between the atmosphere and ocean. Antarctic sea ice extent has undergone a multidecadal slight increase followed by a substantial decline since 2016. Here we utilize a 300-yr sea ice data assimilation reconstruction and two NOAA/GFDL and five CMIP6 model simulations to demonstrate a multidecadal variability of Antarctic sea ice extent. Stronger westerlies associated with the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) enhance the upwelling of warm and saline water from the subsurface ocean. The consequent salinity increase weakens the upper-ocean stratification, induces deep convection, and in turn brings more subsurface warm and saline water to the surface. This salinity-convection feedback triggered by the SAM provides favorable conditions for multidecadal sea ice decrease. Processes acting in reverse are found to cause sea ice increase, although it evolves slower than sea ice decrease. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-44cdb753fb3c4f33a7d75536070e3d12 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2662-4435 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Earth & Environment |
| spelling | doaj-art-44cdb753fb3c4f33a7d75536070e3d122024-11-10T12:44:01ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Earth & Environment2662-44352024-11-015111110.1038/s43247-024-01783-zAntarctic sea ice multidecadal variability triggered by Southern Annular Mode and deep convectionYushi Morioka0Syukuro Manabe1Liping Zhang2Thomas L. Delworth3William Cooke4Masami Nonaka5Swadhin K. Behera6Application Laboratory, VAiG, JAMSTECAtmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Program, Princeton UniversityGeophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, NOAAGeophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, NOAAGeophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, NOAAApplication Laboratory, VAiG, JAMSTECApplication Laboratory, VAiG, JAMSTECAbstract Antarctic sea ice exerts great influence on Earth’s climate by controlling the exchange of heat, momentum, freshwater, and gases between the atmosphere and ocean. Antarctic sea ice extent has undergone a multidecadal slight increase followed by a substantial decline since 2016. Here we utilize a 300-yr sea ice data assimilation reconstruction and two NOAA/GFDL and five CMIP6 model simulations to demonstrate a multidecadal variability of Antarctic sea ice extent. Stronger westerlies associated with the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) enhance the upwelling of warm and saline water from the subsurface ocean. The consequent salinity increase weakens the upper-ocean stratification, induces deep convection, and in turn brings more subsurface warm and saline water to the surface. This salinity-convection feedback triggered by the SAM provides favorable conditions for multidecadal sea ice decrease. Processes acting in reverse are found to cause sea ice increase, although it evolves slower than sea ice decrease.https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01783-z |
| spellingShingle | Yushi Morioka Syukuro Manabe Liping Zhang Thomas L. Delworth William Cooke Masami Nonaka Swadhin K. Behera Antarctic sea ice multidecadal variability triggered by Southern Annular Mode and deep convection Communications Earth & Environment |
| title | Antarctic sea ice multidecadal variability triggered by Southern Annular Mode and deep convection |
| title_full | Antarctic sea ice multidecadal variability triggered by Southern Annular Mode and deep convection |
| title_fullStr | Antarctic sea ice multidecadal variability triggered by Southern Annular Mode and deep convection |
| title_full_unstemmed | Antarctic sea ice multidecadal variability triggered by Southern Annular Mode and deep convection |
| title_short | Antarctic sea ice multidecadal variability triggered by Southern Annular Mode and deep convection |
| title_sort | antarctic sea ice multidecadal variability triggered by southern annular mode and deep convection |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01783-z |
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