Permafrost warming has the potential to amplify global climate change, because when frozen sediments thaw it unlocks soil organic carbon. Yet to date, no globally consistent assessment of permafrost temperature change has been compiled. Here we use a global data set of permafrost temperature time series from the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost to evaluate temperature change across permafrost regions for the period since the International Polar Year (2007–2009). During the reference decade between 2007 and 2016, ground temperature near the depth of zero annual amplitude in the continuous permafrost zone increased by 0.39 ± 0.15 °C. Over the same period, discontinuous permafrost warmed by 0.20 ± 0.10 °C. Permafrost in mountains warmed by 0.19 ± 0.05 °C and in Antarctica by 0.37 ± 0.10 °C. Globally, permafrost temperature increased by 0.29 ± 0.12 °C. The observed trend follows the Arctic amplification of air temperature increase in the Northern Hemisphere. In the discontinuous zone, however, ground warming occurred due to increased snow thickness while air temperature remained statistically unchanged.

/pdf/permafrost-is-warming-at-a-global-scale-3s0k8tjsp8.pdf

Permafrost is warming at a global scale

We analyse the ability of CMIP3 and CMIP5 coupled ocean–atmosphere general circulation models (CGCMs) to simulate the tropical Pacific mean state and El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The CMIP5 multi-model ensemble displays an encouraging 30 % reduction of the pervasive cold bias in the western Pacific, but no quantum leap in ENSO performance compared to CMIP3. CMIP3 and CMIP5 can thus be considered as one large ensemble (CMIP3 + CMIP5) for multi-model ENSO analysis. The too large diversity in CMIP3 ENSO amplitude is however reduced by a factor of two in CMIP5 and the ENSO life cycle (location of surface temperature anomalies, seasonal phase locking) is modestly improved. Other fundamental ENSO characteristics such as central Pacific precipitation anomalies however remain poorly represented. The sea surface temperature (SST)-latent heat flux feedback is slightly improved in the CMIP5 ensemble but the wind-SST feedback is still underestimated by 20–50 % and the shortwave-SST feedbacks remain underestimated by a factor of two. The improvement in ENSO amplitudes might therefore result from error compensations. The ability of CMIP models to simulate the SST-shortwave feedback, a major source of erroneous ENSO in CGCMs, is further detailed. In observations, this feedback is strongly nonlinear because the real atmosphere switches from subsident (positive feedback) to convective (negative feedback) regimes under the effect of seasonal and interannual variations. Only one-third of CMIP3 + CMIP5 models reproduce this regime shift, with the other models remaining locked in one of the two regimes. The modelled shortwave feedback nonlinearity increases with ENSO amplitude and the amplitude of this feedback in the spring strongly relates with the models ability to simulate ENSO phase locking. In a final stage, a subset of metrics is proposed in order to synthesize the ability of each CMIP3 and CMIP5 models to simulate ENSO main characteristics and key atmospheric feedbacks.

ENSO representation in climate models: from CMIP3 to CMIP5

The Tibetan plateau, like any landmass, emits energy into the atmosphere in the form of dry heat and water vapour, but its mean surface elevation is more than 5 km above sea level. This elevation is widely held to cause the plateau to serve as a heat source that drives the South Asian summer monsoon, potentially coupling uplift of the plateau to climate changes on geologic timescales. Observations of the present climate, however, do not clearly establish the Tibetan plateau as the dominant thermal forcing in the region: peak upper-tropospheric temperatures during boreal summer are located over continental India, south of the plateau. Here we show that, although Tibetan plateau heating locally enhances rainfall along its southern edge in an atmospheric model, the large-scale South Asian summer monsoon circulation is otherwise unaffected by removal of the plateau, provided that the narrow orography of the Himalayas and adjacent mountain ranges is preserved. Additional observational and model results suggest that these mountains produce a strong monsoon by insulating warm, moist air over continental India from the cold and dry extratropics. These results call for both a reinterpretation of how South Asian climate may have responded to orographic uplift, and a re-evaluation of how this climate may respond to modified land surface and radiative forcings in coming decades.

Dominant control of the South Asian monsoon by orographic insulation versus plateau heating

Observational studies show a clear response in European climate to El Nino/Southern Oscillation in late winter. Simulations with an atmospheric general circulation model identify a long-distance pathway connecting climate variability in the Pacific region and Europe via the stratosphere, the upper layer of the atmosphere. El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the largest natural interannual climate signal in the tropics; oscillations between warm El Nino and cold La Nina phases occur every few years. The effects are felt not only in the centre of action, the tropical Pacific region, but around the globe. Observational studies show a clear response in European climate to ENSO in late winter1. However, the underlying mechanisms of the link are not yet understood. Here we use a general circulation model of the atmosphere, that has been extended into the upper atmospheric layers, to provide end-to-end evidence for a global teleconnection pathway from the Pacific region to Europe via the stratosphere. We present evidence for an active stratospheric role in the transition to cold conditions in northern Europe and mild conditions in southern Europe in late winter during El Nino years. In our experiments, this mechanism is restricted to years when stratospheric sudden warmings occur. The response in European surface climate to the El Nino signal is large enough to be useful for seasonal forecasting.

The role of the stratosphere in the European climate response to El Niño

Living Planet Report 2018: Aiming Higher

Since the 1950s, research stations on the Antarctic Peninsula have recorded some of the largest increases in near-surface air temperature in the Southern Hemisphere. This warming has contributed to the regional retreat of glaciers, disintegration of floating ice shelves and a 'greening' through the expansion in range of various flora. Several interlinked processes have been suggested as contributing to the warming, including stratospheric ozone depletion, local sea-ice loss, an increase in westerly winds, and changes in the strength and location of low-high-latitude atmospheric teleconnections. Here we use a stacked temperature record to show an absence of regional warming since the late 1990s. The annual mean temperature has decreased at a statistically significant rate, with the most rapid cooling during the Austral summer. Temperatures have decreased as a consequence of a greater frequency of cold, east-to-southeasterly winds, resulting from more cyclonic conditions in the northern Weddell Sea associated with a strengthening mid-latitude jet. These circulation changes have also increased the advection of sea ice towards the east coast of the peninsula, amplifying their effects. Our findings cover only 1% of the Antarctic continent and emphasize that decadal temperature changes in this region are not primarily associated with the drivers of global temperature change but, rather, reflect the extreme natural internal variability of the regional atmospheric circulation.

/pdf/absence-of-21st-century-warming-on-antarctic-peninsula-2whbq1mx1w.pdf

Absence of 21st century warming on Antarctic Peninsula consistent with natural variability

The Arctic is warming at a rate twice the global average and severe winter weather is reported to be increasing across many heavily populated mid-latitude regions, but there is no agreement on whet...

Linking Arctic variability and change with extreme winter weather in the United States.

The 2019 New Year Stratospheric Sudden Warming and Its Real-Time Predictions in Multiple S2S Models

Tropospheric features preceding sudden stratospheric warming events (SSWs) are identified using a large compendium of events obtained from a chemistry–climate model. In agreement with recen...

/pdf/the-downward-influence-of-sudden-stratospheric-warmings-2f1ujgrsja.pdf

The Downward Influence of Sudden Stratospheric Warmings: Association with Tropospheric Precursors.

Using the real-time predictions from 11 models, this study analyzes the prediction of the downward propagation and surface impact of the 2018 and 2019 sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs). These two SSWs differed both in their morphology types (2018: split; 2019: displacement followed by split) and magnitudes (the former being stronger). With a large sample size (>2,200) of multimodel ensemble forecasts, it is revealed that the strength of the SSW is more important than the vortex morphology in determining the magnitude of its downward impact, with strong SSWs more likely to propagate downward than weak SSWs. Therefore, based on the probabilistic forecasts, the observed strong SSW in February 2018 was more likely to have a downward and surface impact than the January 2019 SSW. The relationship between the 10-hPa dominant wave number and the 100-hPa polar cap height (or the Northern Annular Mode) is weak, implying that the dominant wave number might not be the primary factor determining the downward propagation of SSWs in the two analyzed cases. Hence, the high polar cap height (or negative Northern Annular Mode) response in the lower stratosphere and troposphere following the February 2018 SSW is mainly attributed to its strong intensity rather than the split morphology. Further, the 2-m temperature anomaly pattern following the January 2019 SSW is not forecasted due to its weak downward propagation, whereas the 2-m temperature in North Eurasia, Middle East, south China, and eastern United States could be forecasted for the downward propagating February 2018 SSW. However, regional rainfall anomalies are poorly forecasted (both in a deterministic and probabilistic sense) for both SSWs.

Predicting the Downward and Surface Influence of the February 2018 and January 2019 Sudden Stratospheric Warming Events in Subseasonal to Seasonal (S2S) Models.

Ian White

Papers

Absence of 21st century warming on Antarctic Peninsula consistent with natural variability

Linking Arctic variability and change with extreme winter weather in the United States.

The 2019 New Year Stratospheric Sudden Warming and Its Real-Time Predictions in Multiple S2S Models

The Downward Influence of Sudden Stratospheric Warmings: Association with Tropospheric Precursors.

Predicting the Downward and Surface Influence of the February 2018 and January 2019 Sudden Stratospheric Warming Events in Subseasonal to Seasonal (S2S) Models.