Impact of decadal cloud variations on the Earth’s energy budget
Abstract
Feedbacks of clouds on climate change strongly influence the magnitude of global warming. Cloud feedbacks, in turn, depend on the spatial patterns of surface warming, which vary on decadal timescales. Therefore, the magnitude of the decadal cloud feedback could deviate from the long-term cloud feedback. We present climate model simulations to show that the global mean cloud feedback in response to decadal temperature fluctuations varies dramatically due to time variations in the spatial pattern of sea surface temperature. Here, we find that cloud anomalies associated with these patterns significantly modify the Earth’s energy budget. Specifically, the decadal cloud feedback between the 1980s and 2000s is substantially more negative than the long-term cloud feedback. This is a result of cooling in tropical regions where air descends, relative to warming in tropical ascent regions, which strengthens low-level atmospheric stability. Under these conditions, low-level cloud cover and its reflection of solar radiation increase, despite an increase in global mean surface temperature. Our results suggest that sea surface temperature pattern-induced low cloud anomalies could have contributed to the period of reduced warming between 1998 and 2013, and o er a physical explanation of why climate sensitivities estimated from recently observed trends are probably biasedmore »
- Authors:
-
[1];
[1]
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Cloud Processes Research Group
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1336997
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-692260
Journal ID: ISSN 1752-0894
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC52-07NA27344
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Nature Geoscience
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 9; Journal Issue: 12; Journal ID: ISSN 1752-0894
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; 29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY AND ECONOMY; 58 GEOSCIENCES
Citation Formats
Zhou, Chen, Zelinka, Mark D., and Klein, Stephen A. Impact of decadal cloud variations on the Earth’s energy budget. United States: N. p., 2016.
Web. doi:10.1038/ngeo2828.
Zhou, Chen, Zelinka, Mark D., & Klein, Stephen A. Impact of decadal cloud variations on the Earth’s energy budget. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2828
Zhou, Chen, Zelinka, Mark D., and Klein, Stephen A. Mon .
"Impact of decadal cloud variations on the Earth’s energy budget". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2828. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1336997.
@article{osti_1336997,
title = {Impact of decadal cloud variations on the Earth’s energy budget},
author = {Zhou, Chen and Zelinka, Mark D. and Klein, Stephen A.},
abstractNote = {Feedbacks of clouds on climate change strongly influence the magnitude of global warming. Cloud feedbacks, in turn, depend on the spatial patterns of surface warming, which vary on decadal timescales. Therefore, the magnitude of the decadal cloud feedback could deviate from the long-term cloud feedback. We present climate model simulations to show that the global mean cloud feedback in response to decadal temperature fluctuations varies dramatically due to time variations in the spatial pattern of sea surface temperature. Here, we find that cloud anomalies associated with these patterns significantly modify the Earth’s energy budget. Specifically, the decadal cloud feedback between the 1980s and 2000s is substantially more negative than the long-term cloud feedback. This is a result of cooling in tropical regions where air descends, relative to warming in tropical ascent regions, which strengthens low-level atmospheric stability. Under these conditions, low-level cloud cover and its reflection of solar radiation increase, despite an increase in global mean surface temperature. Our results suggest that sea surface temperature pattern-induced low cloud anomalies could have contributed to the period of reduced warming between 1998 and 2013, and o er a physical explanation of why climate sensitivities estimated from recently observed trends are probably biased low.},
doi = {10.1038/ngeo2828},
journal = {Nature Geoscience},
number = 12,
volume = 9,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Oct 31 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Mon Oct 31 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}
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