Quantification of the Feedback between Phytoplankton and ENSO in the Community Climate System Model

Jochum, Markus; Yeager, Stephen; Lindsay, Keith; Moore, Keith M.; Murtugudde, Raghu

doi:10.1175/2010jcli3254.1

Cited by 75 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…On the other hand, surface cooling caused by an indirect dynamical response to the biologically enhanced heating has been also reported (Nakamoto et al 2001;Manizza et al 2005;Loptien et al 2009;Jochum et al 2010). Similar to these conflicting results on the mean state changes, biological impacts on ENSO found in previous studies also show that biophysical feedback can either amplify the ENSO response (Marzeion et al 2005;Lengaigne et al 2007;Loptien et al 2009), or dampen it (Timmermann and Jin 2002;Wetzel et al 2006;Jochum et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…So far, there have been multiple attempts to access the biological impacts on the physical fields (Sathyendranath et al 1991;Nakamoto et al 2000;Murtugudde et al 2002;Timmermann and Jin 2002;Ohlmann 2003;Strutton and Chavez 2004;Wetzel et al 2006;Lin et al 2008;Gnanadesikan and Anderson 2009;Jochum et al 2010;Turner et al 2011). In particular, because the biological feedback can induce significant physical perturbations in the equatorial Pacific, this region has been an active research area for these studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The atmosphere-ocean coupled global circulation models (CGCMs) incorporating marine biology have also shown that biological feedback can significantly change the modeled climatology and variability (Marzeion et al 2005;Wetzel et al 2006;Anderson et al 2007;Ballabrera-Poy et al 2007;Lengaigne et al 2007;Jochum et al 2010;Lin et al 2011;Patara et al 2012). For example, Marzeion et al (2005) showed that the presence of chlorophyll leads to a deepening of the mixed layer in the eastern equatorial Pacific due to the biologically enhanced subsurface warming.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further, they showed that the biological feedback onto the mean state can change significantly when atmosphere-ocean coupling is taken into account. Recently, Jochum et al (2010) quantified the biological feedback on the ENSO amplitude and found a 9 % reduction of ENSO variability occurs in a fully active ecosystem experiment relative to an experiment using prescribed climatological chlorophyll.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of bio-physical feedbacks on the tropical climate in coupled and uncoupled GCMs

et al. 2013

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The bio-physical feedback process between the marine ecosystem and the tropical climate system is investigated using both an ocean circulation model and a fully-coupled ocean-atmosphere circulation model, which interact with a biogeochemical model. We found that the presence of chlorophyll can have significant impact on the characteristics of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), including its amplitude and asymmetry, as well as on the mean state. That is, chlorophyll generally increases mean sea surface temperature (SST) due to the direct biological heating. However, SST in the eastern equatorial Pacific decreases due to the stronger indirect dynamical response to the biological effects outweighing the direct thermal response. It is demonstrated that this biologicallyinduced SST cooling is intensified and conveyed to other tropical-ocean basins when atmosphere-ocean coupling is taken into account. It is also found that the presence of chlorophyll affects the magnitude of ENSO by two different mechanisms; one is an amplifying effect by the mean chlorophyll, which is associated with shoaling of the mean thermocline depth, and the other is a damping effect derived from the interactively-varying chlorophyll coupled with the physical model. The atmosphere-ocean coupling reduces the biologically-induced ENSO amplifying effect through the weakening of atmospheric feedback. Lastly, there is also a biological impact on ENSO which enhances the positive skewness. This skewness change is presumably caused by the phase dependency of thermocline feedback which affects the ENSO magnitude.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of bio-physical feedbacks on the tropical climate in coupled and uncoupled GCMs

et al. 2013

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“…Thus, higher phytoplankton biomass generally results in warmer ocean surface layer. This biogeophysical feedback is known to significantly impact the global climate (7-10) and large-scale climate variability, such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (11)(12)(13) and Indian Ocean dipole (14). Unlike biogeochemical feedback, however, biogeophysical feedback has been overlooked in many future climate projections simulated by state-of-the-art climate models, even in projections by so-called Earth System Models that include interactive marine ecosystem components.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Amplified Arctic warming by phytoplankton under greenhouse warming

Park

Kug

Bader

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Phytoplankton have attracted increasing attention in climate science due to their impacts on climate systems. A new generation of climate models can now provide estimates of future climate change, considering the biological feedbacks through the development of the coupled physical-ecosystem model. Here we present the geophysical impact of phytoplankton, which is often overlooked in future climate projections. A suite of future warming experiments using a fully coupled ocean−atmosphere model that interacts with a marine ecosystem model reveals that the future phytoplankton change influenced by greenhouse warming can amplify Arctic surface warming considerably. The warming-induced sea ice melting and the corresponding increase in shortwave radiation penetrating into the ocean both result in a longer phytoplankton growing season in the Arctic. In turn, the increase in Arctic phytoplankton warms the ocean surface layer through direct biological heating, triggering additional positive feedbacks in the Arctic, and consequently intensifying the Arctic warming further. Our results establish the presence of marine phytoplankton as an important potential driver of the future Arctic climate changes.biogeophysical feedback | phytoplankton−climate interaction | Arctic climate changes P hytoplankton, aquatic photosynthetic microalgae, play a key role in marine ecology, forming the foundation of the marine food chain. Besides this ecological importance, the climatic importance of phytoplankton is also evident, given their role in carbon fixation, which potentially reduces human-induced carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in the atmosphere (1-3). The great strides made in the field of biogeochemical modeling have improved climate models, enabling the investigation of carbon−climate feedback, such as diagnosing the strength of biogeochemical feedback and quantifying its importance in total carbon cycle responses. In fact, several modeling groups provide future climate projections including the biogeochemical process, as seen in a recent version of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP), i.e., CMIP5.In addition to their biogeochemical feedback, phytoplankton also modify physical properties of the ocean. Chlorophyll and related pigments in phytoplankton affect the radiant heating in the ocean by decreasing both the ocean surface albedo and shortwave penetration (4-6). Thus, higher phytoplankton biomass generally results in warmer ocean surface layer. This biogeophysical feedback is known to significantly impact the global climate (7-10) and large-scale climate variability, such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (11-13) and Indian Ocean dipole (14). Unlike biogeochemical feedback, however, biogeophysical feedback has been overlooked in many future climate projections simulated by state-of-the-art climate models, even in projections by so-called Earth System Models that include interactive marine ecosystem components.Greenhouse warming generally involves changes in physical fields that inevitably affect growth factors of phytoplankto...

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Spatiotemporal characteristics of seasonal to multidecadal variability of pCO₂ and air‐sea CO₂ fluxes in the equatorial Pacific Ocean

et al. 2014

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Seasonal, interannual, and multidecadal variability of seawater pCO 2 and air-sea CO 2 fluxes in the equatorial Pacific Ocean for the past 45 years are examined using a suite of experiments performed with an offline biogeochemical model driven by reanalysis ocean products. The processes we focus on are: (a) the evolution of seasonal cycle of pCO 2 and air-sea CO 2 fluxes during the dominant interannual mode in the equatorial Pacific, i.e., the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), (b) its spatiotemporal characteristics, (c) the combined and individual effects of wind and ocean dynamics on pCO 2 attributable to the differences in the combined and individual effects of ocean dynamics and winds associated with these two types of ENSO. A multidecadal variability in the equatorial Pacific sea-air CO 2 fluxes and pCO 2 exhibits a positive phase during the 1960s, a negative phase during the 1980s, and then positive again by the 2000s. Within the ocean, the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) anomalies are traceable to the northern Pacific via thermocline pathways at decadal timescales. The multidecadal variability of equatorial Pacific CO 2 fluxes and pCO 2 are determined by the phases of the PDO and the corresponding scale of the El Niño-Modoki variability, whereas canonical El Niño's contribution is to mainly determine the variability at interannual timescales. This study segregates the impacts of different types of ENSOs on the equatorial Pacific carbon cycle and sets the framework for analysing its spatiotemporal variability under global warming.

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Quantification of the Feedback between Phytoplankton and ENSO in the Community Climate System Model

Cited by 75 publications

References 67 publications

Impact of bio-physical feedbacks on the tropical climate in coupled and uncoupled GCMs

Impact of bio-physical feedbacks on the tropical climate in coupled and uncoupled GCMs

Amplified Arctic warming by phytoplankton under greenhouse warming

Spatiotemporal characteristics of seasonal to multidecadal variability of pCO₂ and air‐sea CO₂ fluxes in the equatorial Pacific Ocean

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Quantification of the Feedback between Phytoplankton and ENSO in the Community Climate System Model

Cited by 75 publications

References 67 publications

Impact of bio-physical feedbacks on the tropical climate in coupled and uncoupled GCMs

Impact of bio-physical feedbacks on the tropical climate in coupled and uncoupled GCMs

Amplified Arctic warming by phytoplankton under greenhouse warming

Spatiotemporal characteristics of seasonal to multidecadal variability of pCO2 and air‐sea CO2 fluxes in the equatorial Pacific Ocean

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Spatiotemporal characteristics of seasonal to multidecadal variability of pCO₂ and air‐sea CO₂ fluxes in the equatorial Pacific Ocean