Sea ice loss of the Barents-Kara Sea enhances the winter warming over the Tibetan Plateau
Abstract The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is known as one of the most sensitive regions to climate change, and it has experienced accelerated warming in recent decades. However, to what degree the TP warming amplification relates to remote forcing such as sea ice loss in the Arctic sea ice remains unclear....
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2022-03-01
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| Series: | npj Climate and Atmospheric Science |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-022-00245-7 |
| _version_ | 1818354480012328960 |
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| author | Anmin Duan Yuzhuo Peng Jiping Liu Yuhang Chen Guoxiong Wu David M. Holland Bian He Wenting Hu Yuheng Tang Xichen Li |
| author_facet | Anmin Duan Yuzhuo Peng Jiping Liu Yuhang Chen Guoxiong Wu David M. Holland Bian He Wenting Hu Yuheng Tang Xichen Li |
| author_sort | Anmin Duan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is known as one of the most sensitive regions to climate change, and it has experienced accelerated warming in recent decades. However, to what degree the TP warming amplification relates to remote forcing such as sea ice loss in the Arctic sea ice remains unclear. Here, we found that the decline of sea ice concentration over the Barents-Kara Sea (BKS) could account for 18–32% of the winter warming over the TP by comparing observational data and ensemble experiments from an atmospheric general circulation model. The reduced BKS sea ice and resultant upward turbulent heat fluxes can intensify a Rossby wave train propagating equatorward to the TP. As a result, the enhanced southwesterlies towards the TP strengthen the warm advection over most parts of the TP and lead to TP warming. In addition, an atmospheric teleconnection between the Arctic and the TP also exists in the interannual variability. That is, a tripole mode in air temperature, with warm centers in the Arctic and TP but a cold center in the mid-high latitudes of the Eurasian continent in between. Our results imply that the BKS sea ice loss could intensify such a tripole mode and thus enhancing the winter TP warming. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T19:26:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-35ebc68f590c4d5eb6620c995b8d28e3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2397-3722 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T19:26:05Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | npj Climate and Atmospheric Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-35ebc68f590c4d5eb6620c995b8d28e32022-12-21T23:34:02ZengNature Portfolionpj Climate and Atmospheric Science2397-37222022-03-01511610.1038/s41612-022-00245-7Sea ice loss of the Barents-Kara Sea enhances the winter warming over the Tibetan PlateauAnmin Duan0Yuzhuo Peng1Jiping Liu2Yuhang Chen3Guoxiong Wu4David M. Holland5Bian He6Wenting Hu7Yuheng Tang8Xichen Li9State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (LASG), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (LASG), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of SciencesDepartment of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, State University of New YorkState Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (LASG), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (LASG), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of SciencesCourant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York UniversityState Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (LASG), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (LASG), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (LASG), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (LASG), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of SciencesAbstract The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is known as one of the most sensitive regions to climate change, and it has experienced accelerated warming in recent decades. However, to what degree the TP warming amplification relates to remote forcing such as sea ice loss in the Arctic sea ice remains unclear. Here, we found that the decline of sea ice concentration over the Barents-Kara Sea (BKS) could account for 18–32% of the winter warming over the TP by comparing observational data and ensemble experiments from an atmospheric general circulation model. The reduced BKS sea ice and resultant upward turbulent heat fluxes can intensify a Rossby wave train propagating equatorward to the TP. As a result, the enhanced southwesterlies towards the TP strengthen the warm advection over most parts of the TP and lead to TP warming. In addition, an atmospheric teleconnection between the Arctic and the TP also exists in the interannual variability. That is, a tripole mode in air temperature, with warm centers in the Arctic and TP but a cold center in the mid-high latitudes of the Eurasian continent in between. Our results imply that the BKS sea ice loss could intensify such a tripole mode and thus enhancing the winter TP warming.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-022-00245-7 |
| spellingShingle | Anmin Duan Yuzhuo Peng Jiping Liu Yuhang Chen Guoxiong Wu David M. Holland Bian He Wenting Hu Yuheng Tang Xichen Li Sea ice loss of the Barents-Kara Sea enhances the winter warming over the Tibetan Plateau npj Climate and Atmospheric Science |
| title | Sea ice loss of the Barents-Kara Sea enhances the winter warming over the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full | Sea ice loss of the Barents-Kara Sea enhances the winter warming over the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_fullStr | Sea ice loss of the Barents-Kara Sea enhances the winter warming over the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sea ice loss of the Barents-Kara Sea enhances the winter warming over the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_short | Sea ice loss of the Barents-Kara Sea enhances the winter warming over the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_sort | sea ice loss of the barents kara sea enhances the winter warming over the tibetan plateau |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-022-00245-7 |
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