Articles | Volume 21, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-1081-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-1081-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
20 Jun 2025
Research article |
| 20 Jun 2025
| 20 Jun 2025
Stratification and overturning circulation are intertwined controls on ocean heat uptake efficiency in climate models
Linus Vogt
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Sorbonne Université, CNRS/IRD/MNHN, Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Paris, France
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York, NY, USA
Jean-Baptiste Sallée
Sorbonne Université, CNRS/IRD/MNHN, Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Paris, France
Casimir de Lavergne
Sorbonne Université, CNRS/IRD/MNHN, Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Paris, France
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Short summary
The ocean buffers human-induced climate change by taking up excess heat from the atmosphere. In this study, we use an ensemble of global climate models to study the physical processes which set the efficiency at which this heat is stored in the ocean. We reconcile previous attempts to explain controls on this efficiency and find that Southern Ocean stratification is a key model property due to its influence on the local overturning circulation and its connection to the subpolar North Atlantic.
The ocean buffers human-induced climate change by taking up excess heat from the atmosphere. In...
