Strength of the North African monsoon in the Last Interglacial and under future warming

Abstract

The authors explore the response of the Northern African (NAF) monsoon to orbital forcing in the Last Interglacial (LIG) compared with its response to greenhouses gas (GHG) forcing under the SSP5-8.5 scenario simulated in CMIP6. When the summer surface air temperature increases by 1 °C over the Northern Hemisphere, the NAF monsoon precipitation and its variability during the LIG increase by approximately 51% and 22%, respectively, which is much greater than under SSP5-8.5 (2.8% and 4.3%, respectively). GHG forcing enhances the NAF monsoon mainly by increasing the atmospheric moisture, while the LIG's orbital forcing intensifies the NAF monsoon by changing the monsoon circulation. During the LIG, models and data reconstructions indicate a salient hemispheric thermal contrast between the North and South Atlantic, strengthening the mean-state NAF monsoon precipitation. The interhemispheric temperature contrast enhances atmosphere–ocean interaction and the covariability of the northward sea surface temperature gradient and Saharan low, strengthening the NAF monsoon variability.

摘要

与人为强迫引起的全球变暖相比, 末次间冰期是轨道强迫引起的过去80万年来最暖的一个间冰期, 但鲜有人研究末次间冰期中北非季风的响应. 因此, 本文基于CMIP6多模式模拟结果对比研究了末次间冰期和SSP5–8.5情景下北非季风的响应, 发现末次间冰期下北非季风平均降水及其降水变率均远大于SSP5–8.5情景下的结果. 轨道强迫导致的北大西洋暖于南大西洋增加了北非季风环流和平均降水, 同时, 南北大西洋海温梯度变化通过增强热带北大西洋的海气相互作用增大了海温梯度和撒哈拉低压的变率, 从而增强了北非季风降水变率.