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SUMMARY:Open-ocean convection becoming less intense in the Greenland and I
 celand Seas - G.W.K. Moore\, Department of Physics University of Toronto\,
  Canada
DTSTART:20140217T110000Z
DTEND:20140217T120000Z
UID:TALK50954@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Victoria Hamilton-Morris
DESCRIPTION:The air-sea transfer of heat and freshwater plays a critical r
 ole in the global climate system. This is particularly true for the Greenl
 and and Iceland Seas\, where these fluxes drive open-ocean convection that
  contributes to Denmark Strait Overflow Water\, the densest component of t
 he lower limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). T
 his buoyancy transfer is most pronounced during the winter downstream of t
 he ice edge\, where the cold and dry Arctic air first comes in contact wit
 h the relatively warm ocean surface. In this talk\, I will show that the o
 bserved winter retreat of sea ice in the region\, which is exposing more o
 f the ocean to interactions with the atmosphere\, has led to a differentia
 l surface warming of the Greenland and Iceland Seas resulting in reduction
 s of 15% and 25% in the magnitude of the respective air-sea heat fluxes si
 nce 1979. Model simulations show that further decreases in atmospheric for
 cing will cross a threshold for the Greenland Sea whereby convection will 
 be depth limited\, reducing the ventilation of mid-depth waters in the Nor
 dic Seas. In the Iceland Sea\, such reductions in atmospheric forcing will
  decrease the supply of the densest overflow waters to the AMOC.  
LOCATION:British Antarctic Survey\, Room 330B
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