changes at higher elevations. We find that changes in surface albedo, atmospheric humidity and downward longwave radiation are relevant factors for EDW in the Tibetan PlateauHimalayas, with surface albedo being the leading driver.

Winter precipitation over the Hindu Kush–Karakoram (HKK) range in the western Himalayas is generated by westerly perturbations whose dynamics is affected by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Larger precipitation is typically recorded during the positive NAO phase. In this work, the relationship between the NAO and winter precipitation in the HKK is explored further, using an ensemble of precipitation datasets and the 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) and Twentieth Century Reanalysis (20CR) data. The mechanisms underlying this relationship are discussed, with a focus on the secular variations that occurred in the last century. The NAO exerts its control on HKK precipitation by altering the intensity of westerly winds in the region of the Middle East jet stream (MEJS). Results indicate that evaporation from the Persian Gulf, the northern Arabian Sea, and the Red Sea plays an important role. During positive NAO phases, westerlies are strengthened and enhanced evaporation occurs from these basins owing to higher surface wind speed. The extra moisture combines with stronger westerlies and results in enhanced moisture transport toward the HKK. Precipitation datasets covering the twentieth century show an alternation of periods of strong and weaker influence of the NAO on precipitation in the HKK. It is found that these variations are associated with changes in the spatial pattern of the NAO: the relative position of the two centers of action of the NAO determines to what extent it can modulate the MEJS, affecting precipitation in the HKK.

We introduce a novel Earth-like planet surface temperature model (ESTM) for habitability studies based on the spatial-temporal distribution of planetary surface temperatures. The ESTM adopts a surface energy balance model (EBM) complemented by: radiative-convective atmospheric column calculations, a set of physically based parameterizations of meridional transport, and descriptions of surface and cloud properties more refined than in standard EBMs. The parameterization is valid for rotating terrestrial planets with shallow atmospheres and moderate values of axis obliquity ( ≲° 45 ). Comparison with a 3D model of atmospheric dynamics from the literature shows that the equator-to-pole temperature differences predicted by the two models agree within ≈5 K when the rotation rate, insolation, surface pressure and planet radius are varied in the intervals(1 bar) 10, and ≲ ≲ ⊕ R R 0.5 2, respectively. The ESTM has an extremely low computational cost and can be used when the planetary parameters are scarcely known (as for most exoplanets) and/or whenever many runs for different parameter configurations are needed. Model simulations of a test-case exoplanet (Kepler-62e) indicate that an uncertainty in surface pressure within the range expected for terrestrial planets may impact the mean temperature by ∼60 K. Within the limits of validity of the ESTM, the impact of surface pressure is larger than that predicted by uncertainties in rotation rate, axis obliquity, and ocean fractions. We discuss the possibility of performing a statistical ranking of planetary habitability taking advantage of the flexibility of the ESTM.

We show that the absence of the Greenland ice sheet would have important consequences on the North Atlantic Ocean circulation, even without taking into account the effect of the freshwater input to the ocean from ice melting. These effects are investigated in a 600 year long coupled ocean-atmosphere simulation with the high-resolution global climate model EC-Earth 3.0.1. Once a new equilibrium is established, a cooling of Eurasia and of the North Atlantic and a poleward shift of the subtropical jet are observed. These hemispheric changes are ascribed to a weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) by about 12%. We attribute this slowdown to a reduction in salinity of the Arctic basin and to the related change of the mass and salt transport through the Fram Strait-a consequence of the new surface wind pattern over the lower orography. This idealized experiment illustrates the sensitivity of the AMOC to local surface winds.