Abrupt warming of the Red Sea

Raitsos, Dionysios Ε.; Hoteit, Ibrahim; Prihartato, Perdana K.; Chronis, Themis; Triantafyllou, G.; Abualnaja, Yasser

doi:10.1029/2011gl047984

Cited by 130 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…In particular, the RSOW flows out to the Indian Ocean (Bower et al 2000(Bower et al , 2005Aiki et al 2006) and is traced as a maximum salinity intermediate water in the northwestern Indian Ocean, reaching as far as the southeastern coast of Africa (Fine et al 1988;Beal et al 2000). However, several studies based on modeled and remotely sensed datasets show that global warming and climate change trends are particularly evident in the Red Sea (Kleypas et al 2008;Cantin et al 2010;Raitsos et al 2011). This could potentially lead to fewer convection events because of positive surface buoyancy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric Forcing of the Winter Air–Sea Heat Fluxes over the Northern Red Sea

et al. 2013

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The influence of the atmospheric circulation on the winter air-sea heat fluxes over the northern Red Sea is investigated during the period 1985-2011. The analysis based on daily heat flux values reveals that most of the net surface heat exchange variability depends on the behavior of the turbulent components of the surface flux (the sum of the latent and sensible heat). The large-scale composite sea level pressure (SLP) maps corresponding to turbulent flux minima and maxima show distinct atmospheric circulation patterns associated with each case. In general, extreme heat loss (with turbulent flux lower than 2400 W m 22) over the northern Red Sea is observed when anticyclonic conditions prevail over an area extending from the Mediterranean Sea to eastern Asia along with a recession of the equatorial African lows system. Subcenters of high pressure associated with this pattern generate the required steep SLP gradient that enhances the wind magnitude and transfers cold and dry air masses from higher latitudes. Conversely, turbulent flux maxima (heat loss minimization with values from 2100 to 250 W m 22) are associated with prevailing low pressures over the eastern Mediterranean and an extended equatorial African low that reaches the southern part of the Red Sea. In this case, a smooth SLP field over the northern Red Sea results in weak winds over the area that in turn reduce the surface heat loss. At the same time, southerlies blowing along the main axis of the Red Sea transfer warm and humid air northward, favoring heat flux maxima.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric Forcing of the Winter Air–Sea Heat Fluxes over the Northern Red Sea

et al. 2013

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“…, and it is considered one of the warmest seas in the world (Morcos 1970;Ahmad and Sultan 1989;Sofianos and Johns 2002;Belkin 2009;Raitsos et al 2011). The consequent water deficit is counterbalanced by an inverse estuarine flow through the narrow (25 km wide) Bab el Mandeb Strait at the southernmost edge of the basin (Murray and Johns 1997;Sofianos and Johns 2002;Yao et al 2014a,b).…”

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confidence: 99%

Impacts of Climate Modes on Air–Sea Heat Exchange in the Red Sea

et al. 2015

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The impacts of various climate modes on the Red Sea surface heat exchange are investigated using the MERRA reanalysis and the OAFlux satellite reanalysis datasets. Seasonality in the atmospheric forcing is also explored. Mode impacts peak during boreal winter [December-February (DJF)] with average anomalies of 12-18 W m 22 to be found in the northern Red Sea. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the east Atlanticwest Russia (EAWR) pattern, and the Indian monsoon index (IMI) exhibit the strongest influence on the airsea heat exchange during the winter. In this season, the largest negative anomalies of about 230 W m 22 are associated with the EAWR pattern over the central part of the Red Sea. In other seasons, mode-related anomalies are considerably lower, especially during spring when the mode impacts are negligible. The mode impacts are strongest over the northern half of the Red Sea during winter and autumn. In summer, the southern half of the basin is strongly influenced by the multivariate ENSO index (MEI). The winter mode-related anomalies are determined mostly by the latent heat flux component, while in summer the shortwave flux is also important. The influence of the modes on the Red Sea is found to be generally weaker than on the neighboring Mediterranean basin.

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“…It is interesting how changing surface winds (Papadopoulos et al 2013;Abualnaja et al 2015) can affect surface evaporation, which in turn modulates local moisture transports. A sharp increase in evaporation in the 1990s that is somewhat delayed with respect to the change in SST (Raitsos et al 2011) can be also analyzed in a view of long-term changes in surface fluxes (both synchronic and lagged) modulated by the Red Sea SST and associated with longer-term intrinsic modes of the Red Sea variability. This analysis, however, requires much longer time series than those available from the modern reanalyses.…”

Section: Discussion and Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to the interplay with surface turbulent fluxes, SST steers to a large extent the sea-land temperature contrasts and associated breeze-like circulation in the lower atmosphere. Raitsos et al (2011) recently reported an abrupt warming signal in the Red Sea SST in 1994-95, which has important implications for coral growth (Cantin et al 2010) but should also have a signature in the dynamics of the atmospheric moisture transports.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Regional Hydrological Cycle over the Red Sea in ERA-Interim

Zolina

Dufour

Gulev

et al. 2016

Journal of Hydrometeorology

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The major sources of atmospheric moisture over the Red Sea are analyzed using ERA-Interim for the 1979-2013 period. The vertical structure of moisture transports across the coastlines has been computed separately for the western and eastern coasts of the Red Sea. The vertical structure of the moisture transport from the Red Sea to the continents is dominated by a breeze-like circulation in the near-surface layer and the Arabian high above 850 hPa. The lower-layer, breeze-like circulation is acting to export the moisture to the northwest of Africa and to the Arabian Peninsula and contributes about 80% of the moisture exports from the Red Sea, dominating over the transport in the upper layer, where the moisture is advected to the Arabian Peninsula in the northern part of the sea and to the African continent in the southern part. Integrated moisture divergence over the Red Sea decreased from the early 1980s to 1997 and then increased until the 2010s. Associated changes in the moisture export were provided primarily by the increasing intensity of the breeze-associated transports. The transports above the boundary layer, while being strong across the western and the eastern coasts, have a smaller effect on the net moisture export. The interannual variability of the moisture export in the near-surface layer was found to be closely correlated with the variability in sea surface temperature, especially in summer. Implications of the observed changes in the moisture advection for the hydrological cycle of the Middle East are discussed.

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Abrupt warming of the Red Sea

Cited by 130 publications

References 21 publications

Atmospheric Forcing of the Winter Air–Sea Heat Fluxes over the Northern Red Sea

Atmospheric Forcing of the Winter Air–Sea Heat Fluxes over the Northern Red Sea

Impacts of Climate Modes on Air–Sea Heat Exchange in the Red Sea

Regional Hydrological Cycle over the Red Sea in ERA-Interim

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