1288 / 2024-09-20 22:54:13
Impacts of Mid-Pliocene Ice Sheets and Vegetation on AfroAsian Summer Monsoon Rainfall Revealed by EC-Earth Simulations
mid-Pliocene,Atmospheric effects,ice sheet,Monsoon dynamics
Session 42 - Deep-time ocean and climate changes: insights from models and proxies
Abstract Accepted
The impact of mid-Pliocene boundary conditions on Afro-Asian summer monsoon (AfroASM) rainfall is examined using the fully coupled Earth System Model EC-Earth3-LR. Our focus lies on the effects of varying CO2 concentration, diminished ice sheets and vegetation dynamics. We find that the enhanced AfroASM rainfall is predominantly caused by the “warmer-gets-wetter” mechanism due to elevated CO2 levels. Additionally, the ice sheet, similar in size to that of the mid-Pliocene era, creates several indirect effects. These include sea ice-albedo feedback and inter-hemispheric atmosphere energy transport. Such influences result in the southward shift of Hadley circulation and formation of Pacific-Japan pattern, leading to reduced rainfall in North African and South Asian monsoon regions but increased rainfall in East Asian monsoon region. Interestingly, while dynamic vegetation feedback has a minimal direct effect on AfroASM rainfall, it significantly influences rainfall in the mid-high latitudes of the North Hemisphere by enhancing water vapor feedback.