Hadley Circulation Research Articles

Modulation of the Central Pacific El Niño on the Relationship Between the Hadley Circulation and Tropical SST

AbstractBased on observational data, the effects of Central Pacific (CP) El Niño events on the relationship between the Hadley circulation (HC) and tropical sea surface temperature (SST) under different meridional structures are investigated. The variability of HC and SST have been decomposed into equatorially symmetric and asymmetric components to detect their relationship. The explained variances of the equatorially asymmetric and symmetric components of the HC's principal modes both decreased in the CP El Niño events. Compared to climatology, the responses of HC to SST under different meridional structures are suppressed during CP El Niño events. It has been discovered that SST variations in the tropical eastern Pacific (EP) are responsible for the different response of HC to tropical SST. The EP SST anomalies exhibit inhomogeneous variations during CP El Niño events, with a greater amplitude in the north EP, resulting in enhanced variation of the equatorially asymmetric SST. The modulation of the CP El Niño on the relationship between the HC and tropical SST provides evidence for its complex climate effects.

MJO in Different Orbital Regimes: Role of the Mean State in the MJO’s Amplitude during Boreal Winter

Abstract The Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) exhibits pronounced seasonality, with one of the key unanswered questions being the following: what controls the maximum in MJO precipitation variance in the Southern Hemisphere during boreal winter? In this study, we examine a set of global climate model simulations in which the eccentricity and precession of Earth’s orbit are altered to change the boreal winter mean state in an attempt to reveal the processes that are responsible for the MJO’s amplitude in the boreal winter. In response to the forced insolation changes, the north–south asymmetry in sea surface temperature is amplified in boreal fall, which intensifies the Hadley circulation in boreal winter. The stronger Hadley circulation yields higher mean precipitation and stronger mean lower-tropospheric westerlies in the southern part of the Indo-Pacific warm pool. The MJO precipitation variability increases significantly where the mean precipitation and lower-tropospheric westerlies strengthen. In the column-integrated moisture budget of the simulated MJO, only surface latent heat flux feedback shows a trend that is consistent with the MJO’s amplitude, suggesting an important role for the surface latent heat flux feedback in the MJO’s amplitude during the boreal winter. An analysis of the moisture–precipitation relationship in the simulations shows that the increase in the mean precipitation lowers the convective moisture adjustment time scale, leading to the increase in precipitation variance. Our results suggest that the mean-state precipitation plays a critical role in the maintenance mechanism of the MJO.

Rossby Waves and Zonal Flux Anomalies in Hadley and Ferrell Cell Analogs of the General Atmospheric Circulation: Model and Experiments

The circulation of the form of axysimmetrically flow with induced anomalies (disturbances) in closed rotating annular channel with conical bottom is generated by sources-sinks and MHD-method. The reducing of external forcing affects the changes of the anticyclones translation speed, but not the cyclones. The great part of moving anticyclones can disappear or stoped or new quasistationary cyclones may realized, whereas there are no change in the flow pattern in the sector where external anomalies take a place. But the variations in averaged parameters of the flow vortex are distinguished for the entire channel area and for their part. These anomalies physically are the weakness of subtropical Hadley cell with diminishing of passats in some sector of subequatorial atmospheric circulation and also the weakness the westerlies in the middle latitudes. The superposition of blocked and transported vortices are investigated with the help of simple analytical resonance interaction model for transient (with the maximum of velocity) modes in the shear flow. The amplitude of stationary background and the famous Sverdrup relation of the free surface streamfunction in the west oceanic shore intensification are affected in the same way from the beta-effect.

Characteristics of Winter Precipitation over Pakistan and Possible Causes during 1981–2018

Winter (December to March) precipitation is the major source of rainfed agriculture, storage, and perennial water flow in the western river system of Pakistan. Hence, this study uses precipitation data and variables of land–ocean and atmosphere from the Pakistan Meteorological Department and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and fifth-generation reanalysis data (ERA5), respectively, to investigate the changes in winter precipitation and its sensitivity to different land–ocean and atmosphere variables, which are rarely investigated in Pakistan. Non-parametric techniques, such as the modified Mann–Kendal, Sen slope, kernel density-based probability function (PDF), empirical orthogonal function (EOF), and correlation analysis, were used to assess the changes and modes of variability in winter precipitation. The overall seasonal precipitation showed a significant decreasing trend with a (−0.1 mm d−1 yr−1) in the seasonal mean and monthly precipitation, except in February which showed a significant increase (>0.11 mm d−1 yr−1). The highest decrease in daily precipitation (<−0.1 mm d−1 yr−1) was in the north, with a moderate decrease in the southeast. The extreme precipitation indices exhibited an erratic decreasing tendency, but the maximum daily precipitation index increased; post-2000 precipitation extremes displayed an increase, and the seasonal and monthly precipitation exhibited the highest deviations during the drought period (1995–2000). The leading precipitation mode (EOF1) is sensitive to the local land surface processes and significantly correlated (>0.60) with the central Pacific and Indian Ocean’s basin-wide sea surface temperature, corroborating the influence of ENSO-induced meridional/zonal deviation of Hadley–Walker circulations. The Hadley and Walker cells affect the south-westerlies’ jet stream strength, impacting the water vapor transport and precipitation over Pakistan. These changes in the precipitation magnitude will affect rain-fed agriculture, especially the Rabi cropping pattern and perennial river flow.

The impacts of Brewer-Dobson and Hadley circulation on tropospheric ozone variations over three city clusters in China

The positive trend of tropospheric column ozone (TCO) in China has been confirmed by numerous observations, particularly in the rapidly developing city clusters such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and the Pearl River Delta (PRD). An unignorable but poorly known function may be played by the Brewer-Dobson circulation (BDC) and the Hadley circulation (HC), both of which are in their strengthening phase. This study discusses their connection to TCO in these three city clusters based on a novel and powerful causal analysis method Convergent Cross Mapping (CCM). It revealed that both BDC and HC exerted substantial causal effects on the variations of the TCO in BTH, the YRD, and the PRD. The upwelling moving northward in the summer substantially lowered TCO in the PRD, contributing to the difference in the TCO annual cycle characteristics between northern and southern China. Besides, CCM distinguished that hemispheric HC impacts TCO greatly more than total HC, and the most essential branches of BDC were stratospheric or shallow branches. The BDC and HC indices determined by CCM were used for building a multiple linear regression model, which assessed their importance for long-term changes in regional TCO. The intensity of BDC is the most important influencing factor in each region, particularly in the YRD. BTH is mainly affected by the intensity of the two meridian circulations. The influence of the widths of meridional circulation upwellings on TCO in the PRD cannot be ignored. Furthermore, TCO displayed significant positive trends during 2005–2020, with rates of 2.3 ± 0.4, 2.5 ± 0.4, and 2.7 ± 0.5 DU/decade in BTH, the YRD, and the PRD, respectively.

Warming trends of southwestern Atlantic SST and the summer's warmest SST's impact on South American climate

AbstractSeveral atmospheric variables are directly influenced by oceanic conditions, mainly the sea surface temperature (SST). SST trends and variability over the southwestern Atlantic (SWA) have affected the South American climate, principally the monsoonal period (austral summer). This study analysed the SST trends over the SWA for all seasons. In addition, possible large‐scale triggers of the austral summer's warmest SST over the SWA and the straight impacts of these warmest SSTs on the South American climate were investigated. The results showed a significant positive SST trend of approximately 0.02°C·year−1 over the SWA for all seasons. Since 2000, positive SST anomalies have increased in frequency in all seasons, with the seven warmest summers occurring during the 2010s. The highest SST summers over the SWA have been related to four leading causes: (i) planetary waves triggered by warm anomalies over the subtropical South Pacific; (ii) an omega‐type blocking configuration over the South Atlantic; (iii) a Southern Annular Mode positive phase; and (iv) a strengthening of the Hadley Cell, responding to warm SST over tropical North Atlantic. They all reflected on intensification of the South Atlantic Subtropical High and the western boundary current, heating the SWA. The summer's warmest SST led to positive air temperature anomalies extending in almost all of eastern South America, with significantly highest temperatures over southeastern Brazil, northern Argentina and western Paraguay. Clouds decrease strengthen the incident shortwave in southeastern Brazil, warming the region. Significant reduction of cloudiness and precipitation indicate a low performance of the South Atlantic Convergence Zone. The comparison of the warmest summers in 1980s–1990s in the SWA ratified the role of SST intensification. In conclusion, the positive SST trends over the SWA are related to the summer's warmest SST after 2000s, causing heating and dryness in eastern South America, mainly over southeastern Brazil.

Large uncertainty in observed estimates of tropical width from the meridional stream function

Abstract. Recent Hadley cell expansion rate estimates vary substantially, as a multitude of methods and reanalysis datasets yield conflicting results. Among the many methods of estimating the Hadley cell width, the meridional-stream-function 500 hPa zero crossing is the most widely used, as it is directly related to the poleward edge of the Hadley cell (HC). Other common metrics use atmospheric phenomena associated with the HC as a proxy, for instance the zonal-surface-wind zero crossing. As each of these metrics requires different reanalysis data, each with varying error, the level of data-driven uncertainty differs between each metric. While previous work has analyzed the statistical and dynamical relationships between metrics, to date no study has quantified and compared the uncertainty due to reanalysis data error in different HC metrics. In this study, we use ERA5 ensemble members, which include small perturbations in atmospheric variables based on the data error, to quantify the uncertainty associated with six commonly used HC metrics as well as the range of their trend estimates. In the Northern Hemisphere, the tropical expansion rate calculated by the stream function is roughly 0.05∘ per decade, while the Southern Hemisphere rate is 0.2∘ per decade over the period from 1979–2022. Of the six metrics, only the meridional stream function and precipitation minus evaporation have substantial uncertainties. The stream function errors are large due to uncertainty in the underlying meridional-wind data and the presence of large regions of near-neutral circulation at the poleward edge of the tropics. These errors have decreased in recent decades because of improvements in the assimilated observations. Despite these improvements, metrics which use well-observed and constrained quantities such as the zonal-surface-wind zero crossing have lower uncertainty, particularly in summer and fall in the Northern Hemisphere.

Effects of ozone levels on climate through Earth history

Abstract. Molecular oxygen in our atmosphere has increased from less than a part per million in the Archean Eon to a fraction of a percent in the Proterozoic and finally to modern levels during the Phanerozoic. The ozone layer formed with the early Proterozoic oxygenation. While oxygen itself has only minor radiative and climatic effects, the accompanying ozone has important consequences for Earth climate. Using the Community Earth System Model (CESM), a 3-D general circulation model (GCM), we test the effects of various levels of ozone on Earth's climate. When CO2 is held constant, the global-mean surface temperature decreases with decreasing ozone, with a maximum drop of ∼3.5 K at near total ozone removal. By supplementing our GCM results with 1-D radiative flux calculations, we are able to test which changes to the atmosphere are responsible for this temperature change. We find that the surface temperature change is caused mostly by the stratosphere being much colder when ozone is absent; this makes it drier, substantially weakening the greenhouse effect. We also examine the effect of the structure of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere on the formation of clouds and on the global circulation. At low ozone, both high and low clouds become more abundant due to changes in the tropospheric stability. These generate opposing shortwave and longwave radiative forcings that are nearly equal. The Hadley circulation and tropospheric jet streams are strengthened, while the stratospheric polar jets are weakened, the latter being a direct consequence of the change in stratospheric temperatures. This work identifies the major climatic impacts of ozone, an important piece of the evolution of Earth's atmosphere.

Connections between Upper Tropospheric and Lower Stratospheric Circulation Responses to Increased CO2

Abstract There are myriad ways atmospheric circulation responds to increased CO2. In the troposphere, the region of the tropical upwelling narrows, the Hadley cells expand, and the upper-level subtropical zonal winds that comprise the subtropical jet strengthen. In the stratosphere, the tropical upwelling narrows and strengthens, enhancing the Brewer–Dobson circulation. Despite the robustness of these projections, dynamical coupling between the features remains unclear. In this study, we analyze output from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) ModelE coupled climate model to examine any connection between the upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric circulation by considering the features’ seasonality, hemispheric asymmetry, scaling, and transient response to a broad range of CO2 forcings. We find that a narrowing and strengthening of upper tropospheric upwelling occurs with a strengthening of the subtropical jet. There is also a narrowing and strengthening of lower stratospheric upwelling that is related to an equatorward shift in critical latitude for wave breaking and the associated strengthening of the subtropical lower stratosphere’s zonal winds. However, the stratospheric responses display different seasonal, hemispheric, and transient patterns than those in the troposphere, indicating independent circulation changes between the two domains.

Uncertainties of ENSO-related Regional Hadley Circulation Anomalies within Eight Reanalysis Datasets

Uncertainties of ENSO-related Regional Hadley Circulation Anomalies within Eight Reanalysis Datasets

Middle atmospheric structure, dynamics, and coupling from three decades of Indian MST radar and complimentary observations: An overview

The genesis for Indian Mesosphere-Stratosphere-Troposphere (MST) radar came from the Indian Middle Atmospheric Programme (IMAP) to study the middle atmospheric dynamics and its underlying processes. During the early 1990s VHF radar operating at 53 MHz has been set up at Gadanki (13.5°N, 79.2°E), India, which started operating initially in the stratospheric and tropospheric (ST) mode. It is upgraded to MST mode in 1993. Since then, it has served various scientific experiments not only from India but under international collaboration. Numerous focused campaigns that have national and international importance were conducted. Using this unique data in the last 30 years along with complementary measurements, several stimulating results has been reported covering a wide range of topics that includes gravity wave characteristics, tides, planetary waves, oscillations, tropopause dynamics and stratosphere-troposphere exchange processes, monsoon dynamics and circulations, mesospheric structure and dynamics, vertical and lateral coupling and long-term trends. The present communication will highlight the unique results obtained using long-term observations of Indian MST radar and complementary techniques covering the complete middle atmosphere. Unique results include quantification of the momentum carried by the high-frequency waves generated in the troposphere up to the mesosphere, demarcating the complete tropical tropopause layer using MST radar observations alone, indication for the strengthening of the tropical easterly jet in the recent decade, unusual behavior of the Hadley circulation during drought and El Nino years, the revelation of the mechanisms for the occurrence of mesospheric echoes at the tropical latitudes, quantification of the turbulence, evidence for the role of anthropogenic changes on the dynamics of the mesosphere and generation of the empirical model by combing multi-instrument data sets. These data set also served in validating numerous ground-based and space-borne measurements including several re-analysis products over a tropical latitude. Issues remained unresolved and ways to tackle in future experiments are highlighted.

Distinctive Features of Monsoon-TC Joint Rainfall over Western North Pacific and its Relationship with the Maritime Continent Thermal Condition

ABSTRACT The East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and tropical cyclones (TCs) in the Western North Pacific (WNP) are both responsible for the East Asian summer rainfall, yet most studies only examine their rainfall separately. In this study, the East Asian summer rainfall for the past 39-years (1983-2021, May to September) is divided into three categories: monsoon rainfall without TCs’ influence (monsoon-only rainfall), TC rainfall independent of monsoon (TC-only rainfall) and monsoon-TC joint (MS-TC) rainfall. Compared with the other two categories, MS-TC rainfall exhibits distinctive features. During strong MS-TC years, a distinct cyclonic anomaly centre prevails over tropical WNP with anomalous southeasterlies extending from the tropics to the subtropics. Large rainfall centres are located at the west edge of the northern Philippines, the Philippine Basin, and the Korean Peninsula. The WNP Subtropical High (WNPSH) withdrawals eastward, with an eastward extension of the monsoon trough. These circulation configurations provide favourable environmental conditions for more northward movements of TCs, including low-level positive relative vorticity and enhanced vertical motion in WNP. Observational and theoretical analysis results show that anomalous thermal conditions in the southern Maritime Continent (MC) (97.5°−112.5°E, 8°−18°S) in early spring (March to April) can be a precursor for anomalous MS-TC rainfall. Strong MS-TC rainfall is usually preceded by depressed convection and anomalous westerlies near the MC. These anomalies can persist through the following summer and induce the positive feedback of cooling sea surface temperature (SST) in MC and cyclonic anomalies in tropical WNP through the wind-evaporation-SST (WES) effect and local Hadley circulation anomalies. The linear baroclinic model (LBM) experiments demonstrate that enhanced convection in tropical WNP further maintains the anomalous cyclone through Gill's response, which in turn modulates the distribution and amount of MS-TC rainfall.

Asymmetric Impacts of El Niño Development and Decay Stages on the Hadley Circulation

AbstractThe impact of El Niño on the Hadley Circulation (HC) has been a topic of previous studies, but the results have been inconclusive. We study how El Niño affects the HC during different stages of its cycle. In development years, the HC anomaly shows an equatorial quasi‐symmetric pattern, while in decay years, it shows an asymmetric pattern. This resolves previous discrepancies among studies about El Niño's impacts on the HC. The differences in tropical sea surface temperature (SST) during different stages of El Niño cause differences in SST meridional gradients, which determine the location of convergence. This explains why the HC anomalies have different spatial structures during El Niño development and decay years. Our results show that the meridional distribution of SST during different El Niño stages has significantly distinct impacts on meridional circulation and clarify the differences in El Niño's effects on climate.

Global Climate Impacts of Greenland and Antarctic Meltwater: A Comparative Study

Abstract Both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have been melting at an accelerating rate over recent decades. Meltwater from Greenland might be expected to initiate a climate response that is distinct, and perhaps different from, that associated with Antarctic meltwater. Which one might elicit a greater climate response, and what mechanisms are involved? To explore these questions, we apply climate response functions (CRFs) to guide a series of meltwater-perturbation experiments using a fully coupled climate model. In both hemispheres, meltwater drives atmospheric cooling, sea ice expansion, and strengthened Hadley and Ferrel cells. Greenland meltwater induces a slowdown of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and a cooling of the subsurface ocean in the northern high latitudes. Antarctic meltwater, instead, induces a slowdown of the Antarctic Bottom Water formation and a warming of the subsurface ocean around Antarctica. For melt rates up to 2000 Gt yr−1, the climate response is rather linear. However, as melt rates increase to 5000 Gt yr−1, the climate response becomes nonlinear. Due to a collapsed AMOC, the climate response is superlinear at high Greenland melt rates. Instead, the climate response is sublinear at high Antarctic melt rates, due to the halting of the northward expansion of Antarctic sea ice by warm surface waters. Finally, in the linear limit, we use CRFs and linear convolution theory to make projections of important climate parameters in response to meltwater scenarios, which suggest that Antarctic meltwater will become a major driver of climate change, dominating that of Greenland meltwater, as the current century proceeds. Significance Statement Melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets is one of the most uncertain potential contributors to future climate change. In this study, we address the comparative role of Greenland and Antarctic meltwater in the climate system and explore the differing mechanisms at work in each hemisphere. We find that the climate response is linear for low melt rates but becomes nonlinear for high melt rates. As the century proceeds, we speculate that Antarctic meltwater will increasingly dominate that of Greenland meltwater, leading to atmospheric cooling, Antarctic sea ice expansion, and contraction and warming of the Antarctic Bottom Water. Greenland meltwater will, instead, affect smaller changes in the Northern Hemisphere.

Subtropical Impact on the Tropical Double-ITCZ Bias in the GFDL CM2.1 Model

Abstract The double–intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) bias has been an outstanding problem among climate models for two decades. However, it remains unclear how much of this tropical bias is attributed to the extratropics and tropics itself, respectively. Applying the regional data assimilation (RDA) method, we follow up a previous study with a more advanced model of GFDL CM2.1 to quantify the influence of extratropical atmosphere on the double-ITCZ bias. Our study reveals that this tropical bias is influenced to a large extent by the extratropics between 20° and 30°, with little impact from the extratropics poleward of 30°. This vital role of subtropics in the double-ITCZ bias is likely determined by the meridional extent of Hadley circulation from zonal-mean perspective. Besides, the vital role of subtropics is also supported by wind–evaporation–SST feedback in the subtropical southeastern Pacific from a regional perspective.

Energetic Constraints on the Pattern of Changes to the Hydrological Cycle under Global Warming

Abstract The response of zonal-mean precipitation minus evaporation (P − E) to global warming is investigated using a moist energy balance model (MEBM) with a simple Hadley cell parameterization. The MEBM accurately emulates zonal-mean P − E change simulated by a suite of global climate models (GCMs) under greenhouse gas forcing. The MEBM also accounts for most of the intermodel differences in GCM P − E change and better emulates GCM P − E change when compared to the “wet-gets-wetter, dry-gets-drier” thermodynamic mechanism. The intermodel spread in P − E change is attributed to intermodel differences in radiative feedbacks, which account for 60%–70% of the intermodel variance, with smaller contributions from radiative forcing and ocean heat uptake. Isolating the intermodel spread of feedbacks to specific regions shows that tropical feedbacks are the primary source of intermodel spread in zonal-mean P − E change. The ability of the MEBM to emulate GCM P − E change is further investigated using idealized feedback patterns. A less negative and narrowly peaked feedback pattern near the equator results in more atmospheric heating, which strengthens the Hadley cell circulation in the deep tropics through an enhanced poleward heat flux. This pattern also increases gross moist stability, which weakens the subtropical Hadley cell circulation. These two processes in unison increase P − E in the deep tropics, decrease P − E in the subtropics, and narrow the intertropical convergence zone. Additionally, a feedback pattern that produces polar-amplified warming partially reduces the poleward moisture flux by weakening the meridional temperature gradient. It is shown that changes to the Hadley cell circulation and the poleward moisture flux are crucial for understanding the pattern of GCM P − E change under warming. Significance Statement Changes to the hydrological cycle over the twenty-first century are predicted to impact ecosystems and socioeconomic activities throughout the world. While it is broadly expected that dry regions will get drier and wet regions will get wetter, the magnitude and spatial structure of these changes remains uncertain. In this study, we use an idealized climate model, which assumes how energy is transported in the atmosphere, to understand the processes setting the pattern of precipitation and evaporation under global warming. We first use the idealized climate model to explain why comprehensive climate models predict different changes to precipitation and evaporation across a range of latitudes. We show this arises primarily from climate feedbacks, which act to amplify or dampen the amount of warming. Ocean heat uptake and radiative forcing play secondary roles but can account for a significant amount of the uncertainty in regions where ocean circulation influences the rate of warming. We further show that uncertainty in tropical feedbacks (mainly from clouds) affects changes to the hydrological cycle across a range of latitudes. We then show how the pattern of climate feedbacks affects how the patterns of precipitation and evaporation respond to climate change through a set of idealized experiments. These results show how the pattern of climate feedbacks impacts tropical hydrological changes by affecting the strength of the Hadley circulation and polar hydrological changes by affecting the transport of moisture to the high latitudes.

Inter-model spreads of the climatological mean Hadley circulation in AMIP/CMIP6 simulations

Inter-model spreads of the climatological mean Hadley circulation in AMIP/CMIP6 simulations

A shallow layer laboratory model of large-scale atmospheric circulation

A new shallow layer laboratory model of global atmospheric circulation is realised and studied by experiments and numerical simulations. A shallow rotating cylindrical fluid layer of 30 mm thickness and 690 mm diameter, with a localised heater at the bottom periphery and localised cooler in the central part of the upper boundary is considered. The rim heater imitates the equator heating and disc cooler – the North pole cooling. The flow transforms from the Hadley-like regime to the baroclinic wave regime through transitional states. The decrease in the thermal Rossby number for the fixed value of Taylor number results in the regularisation of the baroclinic waves. All wave regimes, even with regular wave structures, are characterised by strong non-periodic fluctuations. The observed baroclinic wave structures are a combination of temporarily evolving different baroclinic modes. The important outcome of the shallow layer model is a realisation of the Earth-like meridional three-cell structure. It is shown that the three-cell structure with analogs of polar, Ferrel and Hadley cells exist only in a limited range of parameters. A comparison of the results for the water and silicon oil demonstrated that the physical properties of the fluid can have a strong impact on the baroclinic wave structure.

Tracing the Snowball bifurcation of aquaplanets through time reveals a fundamental shift in critical-state dynamics

Abstract. The instability with respect to global glaciation is a fundamental property of the climate system caused by the positive ice-albedo feedback. The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) at which this Snowball bifurcation occurs changes through Earth's history, most notably because of the slowly increasing solar luminosity. Quantifying this critical CO2 concentration is not only interesting from a climate dynamics perspective but also constitutes an important prerequisite for understanding past Snowball Earth episodes, as well as the conditions for habitability on Earth and other planets. Earlier studies are limited to investigations with very simple climate models for Earth's entire history or studies of individual time slices carried out with a variety of more complex models and for different boundary conditions, making comparisons and the identification of secular changes difficult. Here, we use a coupled climate model of intermediate complexity to trace the Snowball bifurcation of an aquaplanet through Earth's history in one consistent model framework. We find that the critical CO2 concentration decreased more or less logarithmically with increasing solar luminosity until about 1 billion years ago but dropped faster in more recent times. Furthermore, there was a fundamental shift in the dynamics of the critical state about 1.2 billion years ago (unrelated to the downturn in critical CO2 values), driven by the interplay of wind-driven sea-ice dynamics and the surface energy balance: for critical states at low solar luminosities, the ice line lies in the Ferrel cell, stabilised by the poleward winds despite moderate meridional temperature gradients under strong greenhouse warming. For critical states at high solar luminosities, on the other hand, the ice line rests at the Hadley cell boundary, stabilised against the equatorward winds by steep meridional temperature gradients resulting from the increased solar energy input at lower latitudes and stronger Ekman transport in the ocean.

Lorenz Energy Cycle: Another Way to Understand the Atmospheric Circulation on Tidally Locked Terrestrial Planets

In this study, we employ and modify the Lorenz energy cycle (LEC) framework as another way to understand the atmospheric circulation on tidally locked terrestrial planets. It well describes the atmospheric general circulation in the perspective of energy transformation involved with several dynamical processes. We find that on rapidly rotating, tidally locked terrestrial planets, the mean potential energy (P M) and eddy potential energy (P E) are comparable to those on Earth, as they have similar steep meridional temperature gradients. The mean kinetic energy (K M) and eddy kinetic energy (K E) are larger than those on Earth, related to stronger winds. The two conversion paths, P M → P E → K E and P M → K M → K E, are both efficient. The former is associated with strong baroclinic instabilities, and the latter is associated with Hadley cells. On slowly rotating, tidally locked terrestrial planets, weak temperature gradients in the free atmosphere and strong nightside temperature inversion make P M and P E much smaller than on Earth. Meanwhile, a large day–night surface temperature contrast and small rotation rate make the overturning circulation extend to the globe, so that the main conversion path is P M → K M → K E. This study shows that the LEC analyses improve the understanding of the atmospheric circulation on tidally locked terrestrial planets.