Wider impacts of Subpolar North Atlantic decadal variability on the ocean and atmosphere (WISHBONE)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Reading
Department Name: National Centre for Atmospheric Science
Abstract
The Subpolar North Atlantic (SNA), which is the region of the Atlantic Ocean between 45-65N latitude, is a highly variable region. Surface temperatures and surface salinity here have varied on a range of time-scales, but the changes are dominated by large and slow changes on decadal or longer timescales. This decadal timescale variability appears to form a key component of a larger climate mode, the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability, which has been linked to a broad range of important climate impacts, including rainfall in the North African and south Asian monsoons, floods and droughts over Europe and North America, and the number of hurricanes. The SNA is also one of the most predictable places on Earth at decadal timescales, which suggests the potential for improved predictions of regional climate and high-impact weather years ahead.
However, the origins of this variability in the SNA, and the processes controlling its impacts, are far from fully understood. There is significant evidence to suggest that anomalous heat loss from the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean to the atmosphere can instigate a cascade of changes across the North Atlantic basin in both the ocean and atmosphere. For example, changes in the SNA can change the strength of the ocean circulation to the south, affect the northward transport of heat and freshwater in the North Atlantic, and subsequently affect the upper ocean temperatures and salinity across the whole North Atlantic basin, and into the Arctic. Changes in the subpolar North Atlantic surface temperature are also thought to affect the atmospheric circulation - i.e. wind patterns - in both summer and winter. However, observational records are very short, and so there are significant problems with understanding causality, and considerable uncertainty about how well many of the important processes are represented in current climate models.
WISHBONE will make use of new advanced climate simulations and forecast systems to make progress in understanding the impact of the subpolar North Atlantic on the wider North Atlantic basin. It will also test specific hypotheses related to understanding the specific role of heat loss over the subpolar North Atlantic in driving changes throughout the basin including the role of surface anomalies in driving wind patterns.
WISHBONE is a collaboration between the National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading, The National Oceanography Centre Southampton, The University of Oxford, and The University of Southampton from the U.K., and The National Center for Atmospheric Research, from the U.S.
However, the origins of this variability in the SNA, and the processes controlling its impacts, are far from fully understood. There is significant evidence to suggest that anomalous heat loss from the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean to the atmosphere can instigate a cascade of changes across the North Atlantic basin in both the ocean and atmosphere. For example, changes in the SNA can change the strength of the ocean circulation to the south, affect the northward transport of heat and freshwater in the North Atlantic, and subsequently affect the upper ocean temperatures and salinity across the whole North Atlantic basin, and into the Arctic. Changes in the subpolar North Atlantic surface temperature are also thought to affect the atmospheric circulation - i.e. wind patterns - in both summer and winter. However, observational records are very short, and so there are significant problems with understanding causality, and considerable uncertainty about how well many of the important processes are represented in current climate models.
WISHBONE will make use of new advanced climate simulations and forecast systems to make progress in understanding the impact of the subpolar North Atlantic on the wider North Atlantic basin. It will also test specific hypotheses related to understanding the specific role of heat loss over the subpolar North Atlantic in driving changes throughout the basin including the role of surface anomalies in driving wind patterns.
WISHBONE is a collaboration between the National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading, The National Oceanography Centre Southampton, The University of Oxford, and The University of Southampton from the U.K., and The National Center for Atmospheric Research, from the U.S.
Planned Impact
Changes in the Subpolar North Atlantic (SNA) are a significant driver of decadal changes in weather and climate across large regions of the globe, including floods and droughts over the UK/Europe, the number of hurricanes, rainfall over South Asian monsoon regions. As the magnitude of anthropogenic climate change grows, the importance of the SNA for shaping regional climate change is likely to grow - for example if there is a significant slowdown in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), as has been anticipated.
It follows that improved understanding of changes in the SNA and the impacts of these changes on the wider climate system is essential to improve assessments of current and future risks arising from high impact weather and climate events. Such risk assessments are in urgent demand both from governments - for example the UK government's 5-yearly Climate Change Risk Assessments (CCRA) - and increasingly from businesses in a wide range of sectors (including insurance, Energy, Fisheries and agriculture). For example, the international Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (https://www.fsb-tcfd.org/) recently issued an urgent call for a step change in the capacity of businesses to quantify their physical and other climate-related risks. As business and governmental interests are not confined to its home country, the global nature of SNA impacts and the broad exposure to risks could have huge financial consequences. Therefore, businesses, industry and governments will benefit from increased understanding of the modulation of the regional climate interannual-to-decadal timescales, and improved predictions that this brings.
Decadal climate forecasting is an emerging technology which has the potential to provide valuable early warnings of climatic events, and more generally to improve quantification of weather and climate related risks, at lead times up to 10 years ahead. The UK Met Office has been a pioneer in the development of decadal forecasting capabilities and leads the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) activity for the global dissemination of these experimental forecasts. The potential beneficiaries of these forecasts thereby include national meteorological services in all WMO countries, and their customers. Therefore, the outcomes of WISHBONE will benefit the Met Office and Climate prediction services by improving understanding of the SNA's role in driving regional climate variability and high-impact weather, in evaluating models and predictions, and the identification for improvements in future climate models and prediction systems (e.g. for CMIP7). Furthermore, due to the global dissemination of the prediction experiments via the WMO, WISHBONE's results could have a worldwide impact.
The public interest in climate change and related issues is greater than ever. There is particular interest in understanding past and future changes in the local climate that people experience - for example in the UK - and how these local changes relate to changes on larger regional and global scales. As indicated above, the SNA exerts a significant influence on climate change in the UK and elsewhere; therefore there is public interest in understanding the nature of these influences and how they may change in the future. WISHBONE will engage the public on the causes of regional variability and help bring greater trust to climate predictions.
It follows that improved understanding of changes in the SNA and the impacts of these changes on the wider climate system is essential to improve assessments of current and future risks arising from high impact weather and climate events. Such risk assessments are in urgent demand both from governments - for example the UK government's 5-yearly Climate Change Risk Assessments (CCRA) - and increasingly from businesses in a wide range of sectors (including insurance, Energy, Fisheries and agriculture). For example, the international Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (https://www.fsb-tcfd.org/) recently issued an urgent call for a step change in the capacity of businesses to quantify their physical and other climate-related risks. As business and governmental interests are not confined to its home country, the global nature of SNA impacts and the broad exposure to risks could have huge financial consequences. Therefore, businesses, industry and governments will benefit from increased understanding of the modulation of the regional climate interannual-to-decadal timescales, and improved predictions that this brings.
Decadal climate forecasting is an emerging technology which has the potential to provide valuable early warnings of climatic events, and more generally to improve quantification of weather and climate related risks, at lead times up to 10 years ahead. The UK Met Office has been a pioneer in the development of decadal forecasting capabilities and leads the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) activity for the global dissemination of these experimental forecasts. The potential beneficiaries of these forecasts thereby include national meteorological services in all WMO countries, and their customers. Therefore, the outcomes of WISHBONE will benefit the Met Office and Climate prediction services by improving understanding of the SNA's role in driving regional climate variability and high-impact weather, in evaluating models and predictions, and the identification for improvements in future climate models and prediction systems (e.g. for CMIP7). Furthermore, due to the global dissemination of the prediction experiments via the WMO, WISHBONE's results could have a worldwide impact.
The public interest in climate change and related issues is greater than ever. There is particular interest in understanding past and future changes in the local climate that people experience - for example in the UK - and how these local changes relate to changes on larger regional and global scales. As indicated above, the SNA exerts a significant influence on climate change in the UK and elsewhere; therefore there is public interest in understanding the nature of these influences and how they may change in the future. WISHBONE will engage the public on the causes of regional variability and help bring greater trust to climate predictions.
Publications
Dimdore-Miles O
(2022)
Interactions between the stratospheric polar vortex and Atlantic circulation on seasonal to multi-decadal timescales
in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Hodson D
(2022)
Coupled climate response to Atlantic Multidecadal Variability in a multi-model multi-resolution ensemble
in Climate Dynamics
Zhao A
(2024)
Large diversity in AMOC internal variability across NEMO-based climate models
in Climate Dynamics
Ortega P
(2021)
Labrador Sea subsurface density as a precursor of multidecadal variability in the North Atlantic: a multi-model study
in Earth System Dynamics
Bracegirdle T
(2021)
Early-winter North Atlantic low-level jet latitude biases in climate models: implications for simulated regional atmosphere-ocean linkages
in Environmental Research Letters
Monerie P
(2023)
CMIP6 skill at predicting interannual to multi-decadal summer monsoon precipitation variability
in Environmental Research Letters
Smith D
(2022)
Attribution of multi-annual to decadal changes in the climate system: The Large Ensemble Single Forcing Model Intercomparison Project (LESFMIP)
in Frontiers in Climate
Marcheggiani A
(2023)
Decadal Predictability of the North Atlantic Eddy-Driven Jet in Winter
in Geophysical Research Letters
Robson J
(2022)
The Role of Anthropogenic Aerosol Forcing in the 1850-1985 Strengthening of the AMOC in CMIP6 Historical Simulations
in Journal of Climate
Kim W
(2024)
North Atlantic Response to Observed North Atlantic Oscillation Surface Heat Flux in Three Climate Models
in Journal of Climate
Description | Co-author of Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership on "Climate change impacts on ocean circulation relevant to the UK and Ireland" |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
URL | https://www.mccip.org.uk/ocean-circulation |
Description | Contributing author for IPCC 6th assessment report 'The Physical Science basis' |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
Description | (DivPredSkill) - Climate model diversity in the North Atlantic and its impact on prediction skill on interannual-to-decadal timescales |
Amount | € 212,934 (EUR) |
Funding ID | 101026271 |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 06/2021 |
End | 06/2023 |
Description | ALPACA - Advancing the Long-range Prediction, Attribution, and forecast Calibration of the Amoc and its climate impacts |
Amount | £650,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | NE/Y005279/1 |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2024 |
End | 01/2026 |
Description | Explaining and Predicting the Ocean Conveyor (EPOC) |
Amount | € 9,549,760 (EUR) |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 08/2022 |
End | 10/2027 |
Description | Integrating Nature-Climate Scenarios & Analytics for Financial Decision-Making (INCAF) |
Amount | £114,280 (GBP) |
Funding ID | NE/X016390/1 |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2023 |
End | 03/2024 |
Description | Integrating Nature-Climate Scenarios & Analytics for Financial Decision-Making (INCAF) |
Amount | £45,927 (GBP) |
Funding ID | NE/X016358/1 |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2023 |
End | 03/2024 |
Description | Interacting ice Sheet and Ocean Tipping - Indicators, Processes, Impacts and Challenges (ISOTIPIC) |
Amount | £3,000,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | NE/Z503344/1 |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 02/2024 |
End | 01/2028 |
Description | TipESM - Exploring Tipping Points and Their Impacts Using Earth System Models |
Amount | € 4,864,470 (EUR) |
Funding ID | 101137673 |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 01/2024 |
End | 12/2028 |
Description | Collaboration with NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR) |
Organisation | National Center for Atmospheric Research |
Country | United States |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | We produced joint experiments which probe questions of decadal variability and predictability. We have also contributed to the analysis of the experiments |
Collaborator Contribution | NSF NCAR have provided model data and helped to agree the experimental protocols. They have led the analysis of some experiments, and contributed analysis to others. |
Impact | Kim, W. M., Y. Ruprich-Robert, A. Zhao, S. Yeager, and J. Robson, 2024: North Atlantic Response to Observed North Atlantic Oscillation Surface Heat Flux in Three Climate Models. J. Climate, 37, 1777-1796, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-23-0301.1. Zhao, A., Robson, J., Sutton, R. et al. Large diversity in AMOC internal variability across NEMO-based climate models. Clim Dyn (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-023-07069-y |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Appointed to Transdisciplinary Advisory Board for European Joint Programming Initiative "Connecting Climate Knowledge for Europe" (JPI Climate) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | The Transdisciplinary Advisory Board (TAB) consists of national and international members from academia and from relevant stakeholder groups. It advises the Governing Board on specific issues upon request. This overall Advisory Board is an important instrument to involve relevant stakeholder groups. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://jpi-climate.eu/governance/#transdisciplinary-advisory-board |
Description | Chair, Met Office Hadley Centre Science Review Group |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | The Met Office Hadley Centre (MOHC) Science Review Group (SRG) brings together leading scientists from UK and international academia to carry out an independent review of the climate research carried out by the Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme (MOHCCP) to advise its government customers on the quality, robustness and relevance of our science outputs. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
URL | https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/approach/how-met-office-science-is-reviewed |
Description | Expert opinion on Atlantic tipping point study |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Media interviews to give broader perspective on a high-profile paper published on risk of abrupt change in North Atlantic. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66289494 https://www.newscientist.com/article/2384094-vital-atlantic-ocean-current-could-collapse-as-soon-as-2025/ |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Member of Editorial Board for 10 New Insights in Climate Science 2022, presented at COP27 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | The 10 New Insights in Climate Science series is an annual synthesis highlighting essential advances in climate change research, from natural and social sciences, with high policy relevance. The report has been launched every year since 2017 at the climate COP, with participation of the UNFCCC Executive Secretary. This joint initiative of Future Earth, The Earth League, and The World Climate Research Programme, is a collective effort to support the diffusion of the most relevant and up-to-date climate change science to policymakers, negotiators, and the general public. See: https://10insightsclimate.science/ |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://10insightsclimate.science/ |
Description | Outreach talk on the potential for rapid climate change in the North Atlantic for the Bath Geological Society |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | 40 members of the Bath Geological Society attended a talk on the evidence for past rapid climate change in the North Atlantic, and the potential for future rapid changes due to climate change. It sparked questions and discussion afterwards particularly on human-induced climate change and what to do about it. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |