Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The impact of global warming on Kuroshio Extension and its southern recirculation using CMIP5 experiments with a high-resolution climate model MIROC4h

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Theoretical and Applied Climatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Responses of the Kuroshio Extension (KE) and its southern recirculation gyre (SRG) to global warming are investigated using CMIP5 experiments with a high-resolution climate model MIROC4h. The results show that MIROC4h well reproduces the essential features of the KE system and its low-frequency variations. In three-member-ensemble future climate experiments (with a medium mitigation emissions scenario RCP4.5), the strengths of the KE and its SRG increase, relative to the prescribed historical run with natural and anthropogenic forcing. By investigating the mechanism resulting in these variations of the KE and its SRG, it turns out that wind stress changes and ocean stratification changes both contribute to the enhancement of the KE and its SRG. Specifically, the wind stress changes increase upper ocean momentum in the SRG region. Meanwhile, the increased stratifications hinder the transfer of momentum from the upper ocean to the deeper ocean. Besides, the strengthened ocean stratification could enhance the eddy kinetic energy (EKE) in the downstream KE region, which can feedback to intensify the SRG. As a result, the strength of the SRG increases under global warming condition. Then the intensification of the SRG leads to large acceleration of the KE. Eventually, both the KE and its SRG intensify.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Beliakova NY (1998) Generation and maintenance of recirculation by Gulf Stream instabilities. Ph.D. thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Joint Program, 224 pp

  • Berloff PS (2005) On rectification of randomly forced flows. J Mar Res 63(3):497–527

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Capotondi A, Alexander MA, Bond NA et al (2012) Enhanced upper ocean stratification with climate change in the CMIP3 models. J Geophys Res 117:C04031

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ceballos LI, Lorenzo ED, Hoyos CD et al (2009) North Pacific gyre oscillation synchronizes climate fluctuations in the eastern and western boundary systems. J Clim 22(19):5163–5174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cessi P (1988) A stratified model of the inertial recirculation. J Phys Oceanogr 18(4):662–682

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang KI, Ghil M, Ide K et al (2001) Transition to aperiodic variability in a wind-driven double-gyre circulation model. J Phys Oceanogr 31:1260–1286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choi BH, Kim DH, Kim JW (2002) Regional responses of climate in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean to gradual global warming for a CO2 quadrupling. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 80(6):1427–1442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke L, Edmonds J, Jacoby H, Pitcher H, Reilly J, Richels R (2007) Scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions and atmospheric concentrations. US Department of Energy Publications 6

  • Cravatte S, Delcroix T, Zhang D et al (2009) Observed freshening and warming of the western Pacific warm pool. Clim Dyn 33:565–589

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deser C, Phillips S, Alexander MA (2010) Twentieth century tropical sea surface temperature trends revisited. Geophys Res Lett 37(10):L10701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dijkstra HA (2000) Nonlinear physical oceanography. Kluwer Academic, 480 pp

  • Dijkstra HA, Ghil G (2005) Low-frequency variability of the large scale ocean circulation: a dynamical approach. Rev Geophys 43(3):RG302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frankignoul C, Sennéchael N, Kwon YO et al (2011) Influence of the meridional shifts of the Kuroshio and the Oyashio extensions on the atmospheric circulation. J Clim 24(3):762–776

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greatbatch RJ, Zhai XM, Kolmann JD, Czeschel L (2010) Ocean eddy momentum fluxes at the latitudes of the Gulf Stream and the Kuroshio extensions as revealed by satellite data. Ocean Dyn 60:617–628

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guan B, Nigam S (2008) Pacific sea surface temperatures in the twentieth century: an evolution-centric analysis of variability and trend. J Clim 21(12):2790–2809

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hasumi H (2006) CCSR Ocean Component Model (COCO) version 4.0. CCSR Report 25: 103 pp

  • Houghton JT, Ding Y, Griggs DJ et al (2001) Climate change 2001: the scientific basis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Jayne SR, Hogg NG (1999) On recirculation forced by an unstable jet. J Phys Oceanogr 29:2711–2718

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jayne SR, Hogg NG, Rizzoli P (1996) Recirculation gyres forced by a beta-plane jet. J Phys Oceanogr 26:492–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • K-1 Model Developers (2004) In: Hasumi H, Emori S (eds) K-1 coupled GCM (MIROC) description, K-1 Tech. Rep., 1. Center for Climate System Research, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 34 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly KA, Small RJ et al (2010) Western boundary currents and frontal air-sea interaction: gulf stream and Kuroshio Extension. J Clim 23(21):5644–5667

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Komuro A, Ono R, Oda T (2012) Numerical simulation for production of O and N radicals in an atmospheric-pressure streamer discharge. J Phys D Appl Phys 45(26):265201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwon YO, Alexander MA, Bond NA et al (2010) Role of the Gulf Stream and Kuroshio–Oyashio systems in large-scale atmosphere–ocean interaction: a review. J Clim 23(12):3249–3281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu ZY (1997) The influence of stratification on the inertial recirculation. J Phys Oceanogr 27:926–940

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall D, Marshall J (1992) Zonal penetration scale of midlatitude oceanic jets. J Phys Oceanogr 22(9):1018–1032

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall J, Nurser A (1986) Steady, free circulation in a stratified quasi-geostrophic ocean. J Phys Oceanogr 16:1799–1813

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller AJ, Cayan DR, White WB (1998) A westward-intensified decadal change in the North Pacific thermocline and gyre-scale circulation. J Clim 11(12):3112–3127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moss RH, Babiker M, Brinkman S et al (2008) Towards new scenarios for analysis of emissions, climate change, impacts, and response strategies. IPCC Expert Meeting Report on New Scenarios. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Noordwijkerhout

    Google Scholar 

  • Moss RH, Edmonds JA, Hibbard KA et al (2010) The next generation of scenarios for climate change research and assessment. Nature 463(7282):747–756

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pedlosky J (1987) Geophysical fluid dynamics. 2nd ed. Springer, 710 pp

  • Pierini S (2006) A Kuroshio Extension system model study: decadal chaotic self-sustained oscillations. J Phys Oceanogr 36:1605–1625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierini S (2015) A comparative analysis of Kuroshio Extension indices from a modeling perspective. J Clim 28(14):5873–5881

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierini S, Dijkstra HD, Riccio A (2009) A nonlinear theory of the Kuroshio extension bimodality. J Phys Oceanogr 39:2212–2229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu B (2002) The Kuroshio Extension system: its large-scale variability and role in the midlatitude ocean-atmosphere interaction. J Oceanogr 58(1):57–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu B (2003) Kuroshio Extension variability and forcing of the Pacific decadal oscillations: responses and potential feedback. J Phys Oceanogr 33(12):2465–2482

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu B, Chen S (2005) Variability of the Kuroshio Extension jet, recirculation gyre, and mesoscale eddies on decadal time scales. J Phys Oceanogr 35(11):2090–2103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu B, Chen S (2010) Eddy-mean flow interaction in the decadally modulating Kuroshio Extension system. Deep-Sea Res II Top Stud Oceanogr 57(13):1098–1110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu B, Miao W (2000) Kuroshio path variations south of Japan: bimodality as a self-sustained internal oscillation. J Phys Oceanogr 30:2124–2137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu B, Chen S, Hacker P, Hogg NG, Jayne SR, Sasaki H (2008) The Kuroshio Extension northern recirculation gyre: profiling float measurements and forcing mechanism. J Phys Oceanogr 38(8):3112–3127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu B, Chen S, Schneider N, Taguchi B (2014) A coupled decadal prediction of the dynamic state of the Kuroshio Extension system. J Clim 27(4):1751–1764

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu B, Chen S, Wu LX, Shinichiro K (2015) Wind- versus eddy-forced regional sea level trends and variability in the North Pacific Ocean. J Clim 28:1561–1577

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sakamoto TT, Hasumi H, Ishii M, Emori S, Suzuki T, Nishimura T, Sumi A (2005) Responses of the Kuroshio and the Kuroshio Extension to global warming in a high-resolution climate model. Geophys Res Lett 32(14):L14617

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sakamoto TT, Komuro Y, Nishimura T et al (2012) MIROC4h-a new high-resolution atmosphere-ocean coupled general circulation model. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 90(3):325–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sasaki YN, Minobe S, Schneider N (2013) Decadal response of the Kuroshio Extension jet to Rossby Waves: observation and thin-jet theory. J Phys Oceanogr 43(2):442–456

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider N, Miller AJ, Pierce DW (2002) Anatomy of North Pacific decadal variability. J Clim 15(6):586–605

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun ST, Wu LX, Qiu B (2013) Response of the inertial recirculation to intensified stratification in a Two-Layer Quasi-geostrophic Ocean Circulation Model. J Phys Oceanogr 43(7):1254–1269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Susan S, Qin D, Martin M (2007) Climate change 2007-the physical science basis: working group I contribution to the fourth assessment report of the IPCC (Vol. 4). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Taguchi B, Xie SP, Mitsudera H, Kubokawa A (2005) Response of the Kuroshio Extension to Rossby Waves associated with the 1970s climate regime shift in a high-resolution ocean model. J Clim 18:2979–2995

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taguchi B, Xie SP, Schneider N, Nonaka M, Sasaki H, Sasai Y (2007) Decadal variability of the Kuroshio Extension: observations and an eddy-resolving model hindcast. J Clim 20(11):2357–2377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taguchi B, Qiu B, Nonaka M, Sasaki H, Xie SP, Schneider N (2010) Decadal variability of the Kuroshio Extension: mesoscale eddies and recirculations. Ocean Dyn 60(3):673–691

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takata K, Emori S, Watanabe T (2003) Development of the minimal advanced treatments of surface interaction and runoff (MATSIRO). Global Planet Change 38:209–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor KE, Stouffer RJ, Meehl GA (2012) An overview of CMIP5 and the experiment design. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 93(4):485–498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waterman SN, Jayne SR (2009) Eddy–mean flow interaction in the along-stream development of a western boundary current jet: an idealized model study. J Phys Oceanogr 41:681–707

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was provided by the National Nature Scientific Foundation of China (Nos. 41230420, 41306023, and 41421005), the NSFC-Shandong Joint Fund for Marine Science Research Centers (No. U1406401), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDA11010303).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Xing Zhang, Qiang Wang & Mu Mu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xing Zhang

  3. Function Laboratory for Ocean Dynamics and Climate, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Qiang Wang & Mu Mu

Authors
  1. Xing Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Qiang Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mu Mu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qiang Wang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, X., Wang, Q. & Mu, M. The impact of global warming on Kuroshio Extension and its southern recirculation using CMIP5 experiments with a high-resolution climate model MIROC4h. Theor Appl Climatol 127, 815–827 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-015-1672-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-015-1672-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation