Mechanisms Linking Volcanic Aerosols to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

• Published in: Journal of climate 2012-04, Vol.25 (8), p.3039-3051
• Main Authors: Iwi, Alan M., Hermanson, Leon, Haines, Keith, Sutton, Rowan T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerosols; Climate change; Climate models; Climate system; Convection; Cooling; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Fluid dynamics; Greenhouse gases; Heat transport; Hydrologic cycle; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Marine; Meteorology; Ocean temperature; Oceans; Precipitation; Runoff; Salinity; Surface temperature; Time series; Volcanic eruptions
• ISSN: 0894-8755; 1520-0442
• DOI: 10.1175/2011jcli4067.1

This study examines the sensitivity of the climate system to volcanic aerosol forcing in the third climate configuration of the Met Office Unified Model (HadCM3). The main test case was based on the 1880s when there were several volcanic eruptions, the well-known Krakatau being the largest. These eruptions increased atmospheric aerosol concentrations and induced a period of global cooling surface temperatures. In this study, an ensemble of HadCM3 has been integrated with the standard set of radiative forcings and aerosols from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report simulations, from 1860 to present. A second ensemble removes the volcanic aerosols from 1880 to 1899. The all-forcings ensemble shows an attributable 1.2-Sv (1 Sv ≡ 10⁶ m³ s−1) increase in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) at 45°N—with a 0.04-PW increase in meridional heat transport at 40°N and increased northern Atlantic SSTs—starting around 1894, approximately 11 years after the first eruption, and lasting a further 10 years at least. The mechanisms responsible are traced to the Arctic, with suppression of the global water cycle (high-latitude precipitation), which leads to an increase in upper-level Arctic and Greenland Sea salinities. This then leads to increased convection in the Greenland–Iceland–Norwegian (GIN) Seas, enhanced Denmark Strait overflows, and AMOC changes with density anomalies traceable southward along the western Atlantic boundary. The authors investigate whether a similar response to the Pinatubo eruption in 1991 could still be ongoing, but do not find strong evidence.