The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Unpredictable fate of the thermohaline circulation under future CO2 scenarios

Unpredictable fate of the thermohaline circulation under future CO2 scenarios
Unpredictable fate of the thermohaline circulation under future CO2 scenarios
We examine the bi-stability of the thermohaline circulation and its vulnerability to future CO2 forcing scenarios using the C-GOLDSTEIN Earth system model of intermediate complexity (EMIC), which includes a 3D frictional geostrophic ocean model. An Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) approach is used to tune the parameters of the model by assimilating ocean (temperature, salinity and circulation strength) and atmospheric (surface air temperature and humidity) data. The resulting ensemble of 54 versions of the model (each with different parameter settings) represents a sample of the posterior probability distribution defined by prior beliefs and climate observations. It encapsulates uncertainty in the initial conditions, including the strength of the thermohaline circulation.
Initial work has shown that the model thermohaline circulation is close to a non-linear threshold, which may be crossed if the sensitivity of the hydrological cycle to global warming is high. As CO2 is increased, there is a robust decline in overturning strength across all ensemble members, consistent with the century timescale response of full complexity models. However, once CO2 is stabilised, the ensemble diverges with the THC collapsing completely in some members and stabilising at various strengths in others. This uncertainty in outcome is related to the uncertainty in initial conditions, and suggests that the fate of the thermohaline circulation may be inherently unpredictable. We will present the results of forcing all members of an improved ensemble with 21 different CO2 concentration scenarios requested for the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report.
1029-7006
5561-5561
Lenton, T. M.
38cd5d39-bc7d-4b8f-a04b-24ddf75a5b44
Price, A. R.
196a82a6-0b25-4e28-9afa-899a7319f3c4
Cameron, D.
42f5f848-792b-4a46-b40d-588e3226c822
Hargreaves, J.
ea473b5e-71fa-4602-bc50-8e350d25ebc8
Annan, J.
96021204-d011-4eb3-8f34-4afca8ae87e8
The GENIE Team
Lenton, T. M.
38cd5d39-bc7d-4b8f-a04b-24ddf75a5b44
Price, A. R.
196a82a6-0b25-4e28-9afa-899a7319f3c4
Cameron, D.
42f5f848-792b-4a46-b40d-588e3226c822
Hargreaves, J.
ea473b5e-71fa-4602-bc50-8e350d25ebc8
Annan, J.
96021204-d011-4eb3-8f34-4afca8ae87e8

Lenton, T. M., Price, A. R., Cameron, D., Hargreaves, J. and Annan, J. , The GENIE Team (2005) Unpredictable fate of the thermohaline circulation under future CO2 scenarios. Geophysical Research Abstracts, 7, 5561-5561.

Record type: Article

Abstract

We examine the bi-stability of the thermohaline circulation and its vulnerability to future CO2 forcing scenarios using the C-GOLDSTEIN Earth system model of intermediate complexity (EMIC), which includes a 3D frictional geostrophic ocean model. An Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) approach is used to tune the parameters of the model by assimilating ocean (temperature, salinity and circulation strength) and atmospheric (surface air temperature and humidity) data. The resulting ensemble of 54 versions of the model (each with different parameter settings) represents a sample of the posterior probability distribution defined by prior beliefs and climate observations. It encapsulates uncertainty in the initial conditions, including the strength of the thermohaline circulation.
Initial work has shown that the model thermohaline circulation is close to a non-linear threshold, which may be crossed if the sensitivity of the hydrological cycle to global warming is high. As CO2 is increased, there is a robust decline in overturning strength across all ensemble members, consistent with the century timescale response of full complexity models. However, once CO2 is stabilised, the ensemble diverges with the THC collapsing completely in some members and stabilising at various strengths in others. This uncertainty in outcome is related to the uncertainty in initial conditions, and suggests that the fate of the thermohaline circulation may be inherently unpredictable. We will present the results of forcing all members of an improved ensemble with 21 different CO2 concentration scenarios requested for the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 2005

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 23644
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/23644
ISSN: 1029-7006
PURE UUID: 1f10e2ad-d1b0-4995-bc41-8ec59b4c906d

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 29 Mar 2006
Last modified: 22 Jul 2022 20:28

Export record

Contributors

Author: T. M. Lenton
Author: A. R. Price
Author: D. Cameron
Author: J. Hargreaves
Author: J. Annan
Corporate Author: The GENIE Team

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×