Downwind control of oceanic air by land: the land wake and its sensitivity to CO2
Oceans are well-known to be directly altered by global climate forcings such as greenhouse gas changes, but how oceans are indirectly influenced by land and its response to such forcings remains less explored. Here, we assess the present-day and projected future state of a little-explored feature of...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac9702 |
| _version_ | 1827869871040364544 |
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| author | Marysa M Laguë Gregory R Quetin William R Boos |
| author_facet | Marysa M Laguë Gregory R Quetin William R Boos |
| author_sort | Marysa M Laguë |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Oceans are well-known to be directly altered by global climate forcings such as greenhouse gas changes, but how oceans are indirectly influenced by land and its response to such forcings remains less explored. Here, we assess the present-day and projected future state of a little-explored feature of the climate system—a ‘land wake’ in relative humidity downwind of the east coast of North America, consisting of low-humidity continental air extending roughly 1000 km over the Atlantic ocean. The wake exists throughout the year, but is supported by high continental temperatures in summer and low continental moisture in winter. The wake is well represented in an ensemble of global climate models (GCMs), qualitatively matching reanalysis data. Under increasing atmospheric CO _2 , the land wake intensifies in GCM simulations through two pathways: the radiative effects of CO _2 on surface temperatures, and the biogeochemical effect of CO _2 on terrestrial vegetation. Vegetation responses to increased CO _2 alter the summer wake from Florida to Newfoundland, and both the radiative and biogeochemical effects of CO _2 drive reductions in coastal cloud cover. These changes illustrate the potential of rapidly changing terrestrial climate to influence coastal regions and the ocean environment downwind of continents through both light conditions and the energy balance of the surface ocean. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:50:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b9cb5c0666f14d9e8d2cf917355f8f68 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:50:10Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-b9cb5c0666f14d9e8d2cf917355f8f682023-08-09T15:15:28ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262022-01-01171010404510.1088/1748-9326/ac9702Downwind control of oceanic air by land: the land wake and its sensitivity to CO2Marysa M Laguë0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8513-542XGregory R Quetin1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7884-5332William R Boos2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9076-3551Coldwater Lab, Center for Hydrology, University of Saskatchewan , Canmore, AB, Canada; Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah , Salt Lake City, UT, United States of AmericaDepartment of Geography, University of California , Santa Barbara, CA, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley , Berkeley, CA, United States of America; Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , Berkeley, CA, United States of AmericaOceans are well-known to be directly altered by global climate forcings such as greenhouse gas changes, but how oceans are indirectly influenced by land and its response to such forcings remains less explored. Here, we assess the present-day and projected future state of a little-explored feature of the climate system—a ‘land wake’ in relative humidity downwind of the east coast of North America, consisting of low-humidity continental air extending roughly 1000 km over the Atlantic ocean. The wake exists throughout the year, but is supported by high continental temperatures in summer and low continental moisture in winter. The wake is well represented in an ensemble of global climate models (GCMs), qualitatively matching reanalysis data. Under increasing atmospheric CO _2 , the land wake intensifies in GCM simulations through two pathways: the radiative effects of CO _2 on surface temperatures, and the biogeochemical effect of CO _2 on terrestrial vegetation. Vegetation responses to increased CO _2 alter the summer wake from Florida to Newfoundland, and both the radiative and biogeochemical effects of CO _2 drive reductions in coastal cloud cover. These changes illustrate the potential of rapidly changing terrestrial climate to influence coastal regions and the ocean environment downwind of continents through both light conditions and the energy balance of the surface ocean.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac9702climateland-ocean interactionsland-atmosphere interactionsadvectionenergyclouds |
| spellingShingle | Marysa M Laguë Gregory R Quetin William R Boos Downwind control of oceanic air by land: the land wake and its sensitivity to CO2 Environmental Research Letters climate land-ocean interactions land-atmosphere interactions advection energy clouds |
| title | Downwind control of oceanic air by land: the land wake and its sensitivity to CO2 |
| title_full | Downwind control of oceanic air by land: the land wake and its sensitivity to CO2 |
| title_fullStr | Downwind control of oceanic air by land: the land wake and its sensitivity to CO2 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Downwind control of oceanic air by land: the land wake and its sensitivity to CO2 |
| title_short | Downwind control of oceanic air by land: the land wake and its sensitivity to CO2 |
| title_sort | downwind control of oceanic air by land the land wake and its sensitivity to co2 |
| topic | climate land-ocean interactions land-atmosphere interactions advection energy clouds |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac9702 |
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