Sack Lunch Seminar (SLS)

Why does the climate system care about ocean heat transport? Some surprises from warm, cold, and very cold climates

Observations, theory and models all suggest that the oceans contribute significantly to the poleward flux of energy out of the low latitudes. In this talk I will explore the elemental role played by oceans in the planetary energy balance, and how that role varies over a wide range of climates. Using a hierarchy of idealized coupled models, I will discuss what sets the spatial pattern of heat convergence in the ocean, and its close coupling with sea ice processes in colder climates. I will also discuss a surprising (and surprisingly powerful) effect of the oceans on the atmospheric water vapor distribution with relevance to warm climates. The results shed some new light on the importance of ocean dynamics in past climates, ranging from the warm Cretaceous to Snowball Earth.