Open Collections

UBC Faculty Research and Publications

Quasi-Biennial Oscillation and Sudden Stratospheric Warmings during the Last Glacial Maximum Fu, Qiang; Wang, Mingcheng; White, Rachel H.; Pahlavan, Hamid A.; Alexander, Becky; Wallace, John M.

Abstract

The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) and sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) are investigated in simulations using the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model version 6 (WACCM6). We find that the period of QBO, which is 27 months in the preindustrial and modern climate simulations, was 33 months in the LGM simulation using the proxy sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and 41 months using the model-based LGM SSTs. We show that the longer QBO period in the LGM is due to weaker wave forcing. The WACCM6 simulations of the LGM, preindustrial, and modern climates do not support previous modeling work that suggests that the QBO amplitude is smaller (larger) in a warmer (colder) climate. We find that SSWs in the LGM occurred later in the year, as compared to the preindustrial and modern climate, but that time of the final warming was similar. The difference in SSW frequency is inconclusive.

Item Metadata

Title
Quasi-Biennial Oscillation and Sudden Stratospheric Warmings during the Last Glacial Maximum
Creator
Fu, Qiang; Wang, Mingcheng; White, Rachel H.; Pahlavan, Hamid A.; Alexander, Becky; Wallace, John M.
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2020-09-03
Description
The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) and sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) are investigated in simulations using the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model version 6 (WACCM6). We find that the period of QBO, which is 27 months in the preindustrial and modern climate simulations, was 33 months in the LGM simulation using the proxy sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and 41 months using the model-based LGM SSTs. We show that the longer QBO period in the LGM is due to weaker wave forcing. The WACCM6 simulations of the LGM, preindustrial, and modern climates do not support previous modeling work that suggests that the QBO amplitude is smaller (larger) in a warmer (colder) climate. We find that SSWs in the LGM occurred later in the year, as compared to the preindustrial and modern climate, but that time of the final warming was similar. The difference in SSW frequency is inconclusive.
Subject
quasi-biennial oscillation; sudden stratospheric warmings; Last Glacial Maximum
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2020-09-28
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0394531
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/76194
Affiliation
Science, Faculty of; Non UBC; Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of
Citation
Atmosphere 11 (9): 943 (2020)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/atmos11090943
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

Item Media

Item Citations and Data

Rights

CC BY 4.0