Articles | Volume 17, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-209-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-209-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Past, present, and future variability of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation in CMIP6 ensembles
Arthur Coquereau
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale, Univ Brest CNRS IRD Ifremer, Brest, France
Florian Sévellec
Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale, Univ Brest CNRS IRD Ifremer, Brest, France
Thierry Huck
Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale, Univ Brest CNRS IRD Ifremer, Brest, France
Joël J.-M. Hirschi
Marine Systems Modelling, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK
Quentin Jamet
SHOM, Service Hydrologique et Océanographique de la Marine, Brest, France
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Samuel Tiéfolo Diabaté, Didier Swingedouw, Joël Jean-Marie Hirschi, Aurélie Duchez, Philip J. Leadbitter, Ivan D. Haigh, and Gerard D. McCarthy
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Pablo Ortega, Jon I. Robson, Matthew Menary, Rowan T. Sutton, Adam Blaker, Agathe Germe, Jöel J.-M. Hirschi, Bablu Sinha, Leon Hermanson, and Stephen Yeager
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Deep Labrador Sea densities are receiving increasing attention because of their link to many of the processes that govern decadal climate oscillations in the North Atlantic and their potential use as a precursor of those changes. This article explores those links and how they are represented in global climate models, documenting the main differences across models. Models are finally compared with observational products to identify the ones that reproduce the links more realistically.
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Short summary
Using statistical methods and a set of ensemble climate models, we decompose the sources of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) variance. Three distinct phases of physical variability are identified: from 1850 to 1990, internal variability dominates; from 1990 to 2050, dynamical adjustment related to AMOC decline takes over; after 2050, differences between forcing scenarios become dominant. Beyond these physical factors, model variability remains a major source of uncertainty.
Using statistical methods and a set of ensemble climate models, we decompose the sources of...
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