Precession modulates the poleward expansion of atmospheric circulation to the Arctic Ocean

Under sustained global warming, Arctic climate is projected to become more responsive to changes in North Pacific meridional heat transport as a result of teleconnections between low and high latitudes, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we reconstruct subarctic humidity changes over the past 400 kyr to investigate the role of low-to-high latitude interactions in regulating Arctic hydroclimate. Our reconstruction is based on precipitation-driven sediment input variations in the Subarctic North Pacific (SANP), which reveal a strong precessional cycle in subarctic humidity under the relatively low eccentricity variations that dominated the past four glacial-interglacial cycles. Combined with climate model simulations, we highlight that precession drives meridional shifts in the northern rim of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG) and modulates the efficiency of heat and water vapor transfer to the SANP and Arctic regions. Our findings suggest that projections of a northward shift of the NPSG in response to future global warming will lead to wetter conditions in the Arctic Ocean and enhanced sea-ice loss.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-01-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56542-1
Citations
4
Primary Topic
Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.20

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article

Precession modulates the poleward expansion of atmospheric circulation to the Arctic Ocean

Lu Niu, Wenyue Xia, Zhengyao Lu, Flor Vermassen et al.
4 citations
Nature Communications
Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
5.20
article

Precession modulates the poleward expansion of atmospheric circulation to the Arctic Ocean

Lu Niu, Wenyue Xia, Zhengyao Lu, Flor Vermassen, Mark J. Dekkers, Stefanie Kaboth‐Bahr, Peter D. Clift, Hu Yang, Juan C. Larrasoaña, Sev Kender, Camilla S. Andresen, Yanguang Liu, Michael E Weber, Yi Zhong, Chijun Sun, Debo Zhao, Xianfeng Wang, Jimin Yu, Keiji Horikawa, Haiwei Zhang, Xuguang Feng, Zhengyang Dai, Hai Li, Qingsong Liu, Sheng Yang, Jingyu Zhang
article en
4 citations

Abstract

Under sustained global warming, Arctic climate is projected to become more responsive to changes in North Pacific meridional heat transport as a result of teleconnections between low and high latitudes, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we reconstruct subarctic humidity changes over the past 400 kyr to investigate the role of low-to-high latitude interactions in regulating Arctic hydroclimate. Our reconstruction is based on precipitation-driven sediment input variations in the Subarctic North Pacific (SANP), which reveal a strong precessional cycle in subarctic humidity under the relatively low eccentricity variations that dominated the past four glacial-interglacial cycles. Combined with climate model simulations, we highlight that precession drives meridional shifts in the northern rim of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG) and modulates the efficiency of heat and water vapor transfer to the SANP and Arctic regions. Our findings suggest that projections of a northward shift of the NPSG in response to future global warming will lead to wetter conditions in the Arctic Ocean and enhanced sea-ice loss.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
Australian National University (AU), Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (DE), University of Bonn (DE), Stockholm University (SE), Nanyang Technological University (SG), Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA) (ES), Lund University (SE), Utrecht University (NL), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Ministry of Natural Resources (CN), University of Exeter (GB), Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (CN), Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (DK), Southern University of Science and Technology (CN), Institute of Oceanology (CN), Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) (CN), Earth Observatory of Singapore (SG), First Institute of Oceanography (CN), Estación Experimental de Aula Dei (ES), Institute of Earth Environment (CN), University of Toyama (JP), Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai) (CN), Laoshan Laboratory, University College London (GB), Freie Universität Berlin (DE), Shandong University of Science and Technology (CN), University of California, Davis (US), Xi'an Jiaotong University (CN), Nanjing University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas, Linköpings Universitet, Vetenskapsrådet, Ministry of Education, India, Bộ Giáo dục và Ðào tạo, Southern University of Science and Technology
Life below water
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
5.20
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