Time varying arctic climate change amplification

Journal Article · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2009 · Geophysical Research Letters

OSTI ID:956565

Chylek, Petr ^[1]; Dubey, Manvendra K ^[1]; Lesins, Glen ^[2]; Wang, Muyin ^[3]

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1. Los Alamos National Laboratory
2. DALLHOUSIE U
3. NOAA/JISAO

During the past 130 years the global mean surface air temperature has risen by about 0.75 K. Due to feedbacks -- including the snow/ice albedo feedback -- the warming in the Arctic is expected to proceed at a faster rate than the global average. Climate model simulations suggest that this Arctic amplification produces warming that is two to three times larger than the global mean. Understanding the Arctic amplification is essential for projections of future Arctic climate including sea ice extent and melting of the Greenland ice sheet. We use the temperature records from the Arctic stations to show that (a) the Arctic amplification is larger at latitudes above 700 N compared to those within 64-70oN belt, and that, surprisingly; (b) the ratio of the Arctic to global rate of temperature change is not constant but varies on the decadal timescale. This time dependence will affect future projections of climate changes in the Arctic.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC52-06NA25396
• OSTI ID: 956565
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-09-01197; LA-UR-09-1197
• Journal Information: Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters; ISSN GPRLAJ; ISSN 0094-8276
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
ALBEDO
AMBIENT TEMPERATURE
AMPLIFICATION
ARCTIC REGIONS
CLIMATE MODELS
CLIMATES
GREENLAND
ICE
MELTING
SEAS
SURFACE AIR
TIME DEPENDENCE