The initiation of modern "soft snowball" and "hard snowball" climates in CCSM3. Part II: Climate dynamic feedbacks

Abstract

This study investigates the climate dynamic feedbacks during a transition from the present climate to the extremely cold climate of a "Snowball Earth" using the Community Climate System Model, version 3 (CCSM3). With the land-sea distribution fixed to modern, it is found that by reducing solar luminosity and/or carbon dioxide concentration: 1) the amount of atmospheric water vapor and its attendant greenhouse effect decrease with the logarithm of sea ice cover, thereby promoting the expansion of sea ice; 2) over the sea ice, the cloud radiative feedback is positive, thus enhancing sea ice advance; over the ocean, the cloud radiative feedback is first negative and then becomes positive as sea ice enters the tropics; and 3) the strength of the atmospheric Hadley cell and the wind-driven ocean circulation increases significantly in the Southern Hemisphere, inhibiting the expansion of sea ice into the tropics. Meanwhile, the North Atlantic Deep Water cell disappears and the Antarctic Bottom Water cell strengthens and expands to occupy almost the entire Atlantic basin. In the experiment with 6% less solar radiation and 70 ppmv CO 2 compared to the control experiment with 100% solar radiation and 355 ppmv CO 2 near the ice edge (28°S latitude), the changes of solar radiation, CO 2 forcing, water vapor greenhouse effect, longwave cloud forcing at the top of the model, and atmospheric and oceanic energy transport are -22.4, -6.2, -54.4, +6.2, and +16.3 W m -2, respectively. Therefore, the major controlling factors in producing global ice cover are ice albedo feedback (Yang et al., Part I) and water vapor feedback. © 2012 American Meteorological Society.