Projection of North Atlantic Oscillation and its effect on tracer transport
The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) plays an important role in the climate variability of the Northern Hemisphere, with significant consequences on long-range pollutant transport. We investigate the evolution of pollutant transport in the 21st century influenced by the NAO under a global climate...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2016-12-01
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Series: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
Online Access: | https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/16/15581/2016/acp-16-15581-2016.pdf |
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author | S. Bacer T. Christoudias A. Pozzer |
author_facet | S. Bacer T. Christoudias A. Pozzer |
author_sort | S. Bacer |
collection | DOAJ |
description | The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) plays an important role in the climate
variability of the Northern Hemisphere, with significant consequences on
long-range pollutant transport. We investigate the evolution of pollutant
transport in the 21st century influenced by the NAO under a global climate
change scenario. We use a free-running simulation performed by the
ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model coupled with the ocean general
circulation model MPIOM, covering the period from 1950 until 2100. Similarly
to other works, the model shows a future northeastward shift of the NAO
centres of action and a weak positive trend of the NAO index (over
150 years). Moreover, we find that NAO trends (computed over periods shorter
than 30 years) will continue to oscillate between positive and negative
values in the future. To investigate the NAO effects on transport we consider
carbon monoxide tracers with exponential decay and constant interannual
emissions. We find that at the end of the century, the south-western
Mediterranean and northern Africa will, during positive NAO phases, see
higher pollutant concentrations with respect to the past, while a wider part
of northern Europe will, during positive NAO phases, see lower pollutant
concentrations. Such results are confirmed by the changes observed in the
future for tracer concentration and vertically integrated tracer transport,
differentiating the cases of “high NAO” and “low NAO” events. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-13T19:27:53Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-6692a755b9c044859f04c558de2d36ce |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1680-7316 1680-7324 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-13T19:27:53Z |
publishDate | 2016-12-01 |
publisher | Copernicus Publications |
record_format | Article |
series | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
spelling | doaj.art-6692a755b9c044859f04c558de2d36ce2022-12-22T02:33:16ZengCopernicus PublicationsAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics1680-73161680-73242016-12-0116155811559210.5194/acp-16-15581-2016Projection of North Atlantic Oscillation and its effect on tracer transportS. Bacer0T. Christoudias1A. Pozzer2Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, GermanyComputation-based Science and Technology Research Center, The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, CyprusAtmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, GermanyThe North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) plays an important role in the climate variability of the Northern Hemisphere, with significant consequences on long-range pollutant transport. We investigate the evolution of pollutant transport in the 21st century influenced by the NAO under a global climate change scenario. We use a free-running simulation performed by the ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model coupled with the ocean general circulation model MPIOM, covering the period from 1950 until 2100. Similarly to other works, the model shows a future northeastward shift of the NAO centres of action and a weak positive trend of the NAO index (over 150 years). Moreover, we find that NAO trends (computed over periods shorter than 30 years) will continue to oscillate between positive and negative values in the future. To investigate the NAO effects on transport we consider carbon monoxide tracers with exponential decay and constant interannual emissions. We find that at the end of the century, the south-western Mediterranean and northern Africa will, during positive NAO phases, see higher pollutant concentrations with respect to the past, while a wider part of northern Europe will, during positive NAO phases, see lower pollutant concentrations. Such results are confirmed by the changes observed in the future for tracer concentration and vertically integrated tracer transport, differentiating the cases of “high NAO” and “low NAO” events.https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/16/15581/2016/acp-16-15581-2016.pdf |
spellingShingle | S. Bacer T. Christoudias A. Pozzer Projection of North Atlantic Oscillation and its effect on tracer transport Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
title | Projection of North Atlantic Oscillation and its effect on tracer transport |
title_full | Projection of North Atlantic Oscillation and its effect on tracer transport |
title_fullStr | Projection of North Atlantic Oscillation and its effect on tracer transport |
title_full_unstemmed | Projection of North Atlantic Oscillation and its effect on tracer transport |
title_short | Projection of North Atlantic Oscillation and its effect on tracer transport |
title_sort | projection of north atlantic oscillation and its effect on tracer transport |
url | https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/16/15581/2016/acp-16-15581-2016.pdf |
work_keys_str_mv | AT sbacer projectionofnorthatlanticoscillationanditseffectontracertransport AT tchristoudias projectionofnorthatlanticoscillationanditseffectontracertransport AT apozzer projectionofnorthatlanticoscillationanditseffectontracertransport |