Atmospheric water vapor flux, bifurcation of the thermohaline circulation, and climate change
- Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
Latitudinal heat transport in the ocean and atmosphere represents a fundamental process of the Earth`s climate system. The ocean component of heat transport is effected by the thermohaline circulation. Changes in this circulation have a significant effect on global climate. Paleoclimate evidence from the Greenland ice and deep sea sediment core suggests during much of glacial time the climate system oscillated between two different states. The role of atmospheric hydrological cycle on the global thermohaline circulation and the feedback to the climate system through changes in the ocean`s latitudinal heat transport, with a simple coupled ocean-atmosphere energy-salt balance model is addressed here. Two components of the atmospheric hydrological cycle, i.e., latitudinal water vapor transport and the net flux of water vapor from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean appear to play separate roles. If the inter-basin transport is sufficiently large, small changes in water vapor transport over the North Atlantic can effect bifurcation or a rapid transition between two different equilibria in the global thermohaline circulation. If the inter-basin transport is from the Pacific to the Atlantic and sufficiently large, latitudinal vapor transport in the North Pacific controls the bifurcations. For intermediate values of inter-basin transport, no rapid transitions occur in either basin. For estimated values of water vapor transport for the present climate the model asserts that while vapor transport from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean is sufficiently large to make the North Atlantic the dominant region for deep water production, latitudinal water vapor transport is sufficiently low that the thermohaline circulation appears stable, i.e., far from a bifurcation point. This conclusion is supported to some extent by the fact that the high latitude temperature of the atmosphere as recorded in the Greenland ice cores has changes little over the last 9000 years. 31 refs., 5 figs.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 181899
- Journal Information:
- Climate Dynamics, Vol. 8, Issue 1; Other Information: PBD: Oct 1992
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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