Hosed vs. unhosed: global response to interruptions of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning, with and without freshwater forcing

Abstract

It is well known that glacial periods were punctuated by abrupt climate changes, with large impacts on air temperature, precipitation, and ocean circulation across the globe. However, the long-held idea that freshwater forcing, caused by massive iceberg discharges, was the driving force behind these changes has been questioned in recent years. This throws into doubt the abundant literature on modelling abrupt climate change through "hosing" experiments, whereby the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is interrupted by an injection of freshwater to the North Atlantic: if some, or all, abrupt climate change was not driven by freshwater input, could its character have been very different than the typical hosed experiments? Here, we take advantage of a global coupled ocean–atmosphere model that exhibits spontaneous, unhosed oscillations in AMOC strength, in order to examine how the global imprint of AMOC variations depends on whether or not it is the result of external freshwater input. The results imply that, to first order, the ocean–ice–atmosphere dynamics associated with an AMOC weakening dominate the global response, regardless of whether or not freshwater input is the cause. The exception lies in the impact freshwater inputs can have on the strength of other polar haloclines, particularly the Southern Ocean, to which freshwater can be transported relatively quickly after injection in the North Atlantic.