Occasional Thoughts on Climate Change

[donsutherland1]

9 minutes ago, LibertyBell said:

The question is why the Northern Pacific specifically and not the Northern Atlantic too?

 

The North Atlantic has a deep overturning circulation (AMOC) that pushes surface heat below resulting in a much deeper mixed layer than the North Pacific. The melting of the Greenland ice sheet has also been dumping lighter freshwater into the North Atlantic weakening the AMOC but creating a persistent area of cool SSTAs, often referred to as a 'warming hole." 

So, even as positive cloud feedbacks and reduction in aerosols have increased incoming solar radiation, these differences mitigate the extent of North Atlantic warming relative to the North Pacific.

[LibertyBell]

1 hour ago, donsutherland1 said:

The North Atlantic has a deep overturning circulation (AMOC) that pushes surface heat below resulting in a much deeper mixed layer than the North Pacific. The melting of the Greenland ice sheet has also been dumping lighter freshwater into the North Atlantic weakening the AMOC but creating a persistent area of cool SSTAs, often referred to as a 'warming hole." 

So, even as positive cloud feedbacks and reduction in aerosols have increased incoming solar radiation, these differences mitigate the extent of North Atlantic warming relative to the North Pacific.

and the Atlantic is also smaller than the Pacific so melting polar ice would have more of an effect on the Atlantic I would guess.