Sensitivity of the Mediterranean sea level and thermohaline circulation to boundary forcings in an ensemble of 21st century climate change scenarios

Comunicación presentada en el 40th CIESM Congress (The Mediterranean Science Commission), celebrada del 28 de octubre al 1 de noviembre de 2013 en Marsella (Francia)
We performed 21st century climate change scenario simulations with a Mediterranean regional ocean model in order to assess the sensitivity of changing Mediterranean water masses to boundary forcings. Our study aims to quantify the uncertainty linked to the choice of boundary conditions such as the Atlantic hydrography at the western margin, the river runoffs or the surface fluxes. We particularly focus on changes in mean sea level and thermohaline circulation. Results show that the near-Atlantic hydrographic changes have the strongest influence on the evolution of the Mediterranean water masses.