Talk by Laure Zanna

Prof. Laure Zanna from the University of Oxford will present her work on the workings of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.

Title: The Atlantic Ocean Circulation and Climate Change.

Abstract: The strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is projected to weaken under anthropogenic climate change. Such a reduction in the circulation could have a significant impact on the surface climate and the Earth’s radiative budget. State-of-the-art numerical climate simulations do not agree on the magnitude of the projected weakening. In addition, the decadal variability of the AMOC is shown to differ significantly between climate change scenarios and preindustrial control simulations. I will examine the relationship between the projected AMOC strength and variability and its preindustrial modelled value. I will discuss the key processes controlling the overturning circulation and its response to climate change. I will attempt to show using conceptual and general circulation models that the response of the overturning circulation is strongly determined by its unperturbed control state.