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Drier tropical and subtropical Southern Hemisphere in the mid-Pliocene Warm Period.
- Source :
-
Scientific Reports . 8/10/2020, Vol. 10 Issue 1, p1-11. 11p. - Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- Thermodynamic arguments imply that global mean rainfall increases in a warmer atmosphere; however, dynamical effects may result in more significant diversity of regional precipitation change. Here we investigate rainfall changes in the mid-Pliocene Warm Period (~ 3 Ma), a time when temperatures were 2–3ºC warmer than the pre-industrial era, using output from the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Projects phases 1 and 2 and sensitivity climate model experiments. In the Mid-Pliocene simulations, the higher rates of warming in the northern hemisphere create an interhemispheric temperature gradient that enhances the southward cross-equatorial energy flux by up to 48%. This intensified energy flux reorganizes the atmospheric circulation leading to a northward shift of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone and a weakened and poleward displaced Southern Hemisphere Subtropical Convergences Zones. These changes result in drier-than-normal Southern Hemisphere tropics and subtropics. The evaluation of the mid-Pliocene adds a constraint to possible future warmer scenarios associated with differing rates of warming between hemispheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *RAINFALL
*PLIOCENE Epoch
*ATMOSPHERE
*METEOROLOGICAL precipitation
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20452322
- Volume :
- 10
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Scientific Reports
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 145078299
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68884-5