Acute Sensitivity of Global Ocean Circulation and Heat Content to Eddy Energy Dissipation Timescale

• Published in: Geophysical research letters 2022-04, Vol.49 (8), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Mak, J., Marshall, D. P., Madec, G., Maddison, J. R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antarctic circulation; Antarctic Circumpolar Current; Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC); Atmospheric models; Circulation; Climate; Climate models; Climate system; Climatic conditions; Climatic evolution; Density stratification; Eddies; eddy energetics; eddy parameterization; Energy balance; Energy dissipation; Energy exchange; Enthalpy; Future climates; Geophysics; Global climate; global overturning circulation; Heat; Heat content; Mesoscale phenomena; Ocean basins; Ocean circulation; Ocean circulation models; Ocean currents; Ocean dynamics; ocean modeling; Ocean models; Oceanic eddies; Oceans; Paleoclimate; Parameterization; Physics; Southern Ocean; Time; Water circulation
• ISSN: 0094-8276; 1944-8007
• DOI: 10.1029/2021GL097259

The global ocean overturning circulation, critically dependent on the global density stratification, plays a central role in regulating climate evolution. While it is well known that the global stratification profile exhibits a strong dependence to Southern Ocean dynamics and in particular to wind and buoyancy forcing, we demonstrate here that the stratification is also acutely sensitive to the mesoscale eddy energy dissipation timescale. Within the context of a global ocean circulation model with an energy constrained mesoscale eddy parameterization, it is shown that modest variations in the eddy energy dissipation timescale lead to significant variations in key metrics relating to ocean circulation, namely the Antarctic Circumpolar Current transport, Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation strength, and global ocean heat content, over long timescales. The results highlight a need to constrain uncertainties associated with eddy energy dissipation for climate model projections over centennial timescales and also for paleoclimate simulations over millennial timescales. Plain Language Summary The ocean is populated by “eddies”, analogous to weather systems in the atmosphere, but occurring on much smaller scales of typically 10–100 km. Recent advances in our understanding of the circulation of the Southern Ocean, which connects all of the major ocean basins to the north, have revealed a crucial role for the energy balance of Southern Ocean eddies. In this paper, we show that the timescale over which energy is removed from Southern Ocean eddies has a dramatic impact on the following: (a) the strength of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the largest current in the global ocean; (b) the strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, responsible in part for the relatively mild climatic conditions over northwestern Europe; and (c) global ocean heat content, a key parameter in the global climate system. These results have significant implications for both past and future climates, and highlight the importance of combining observational, theoretical and modeling efforts to better understand and constrain the energy balance of ocean eddies. Key Points Key metrics of global ocean circulation (Antarctic Circumpolar Current transport, Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation strength, and Ocean Heat Content anomaly) acutely sensitive to an eddy energy dissipation timescale Modest variations in the dissipation timescale has a comparable effect to si