Coupled Stratospheric Ozone and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation Feedbacks on the Northern Hemisphere Midlatitude Jet Response to 4xCO2

Stratospheric ozone, and its response to anthropogenic forcings, provide an important pathway for the coupling between atmospheric composition and climate. In addition to stratospheric ozone’s radiative impacts, recent studies have shown that changes in the ozone layer due to 4xCO₂ have a considerable impact on the Northern Hemisphere (NH) tropospheric circulation inducing an equatorward shift of the North Atlantic jet during boreal winter. Here we show that this equatorward jet shift can induce a more rapid weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), resulting in a poleward shift of the midlatitude eddy-driven jet on longer timescales. As such, coupled feedbacks from both stratospheric ozone and the AMOC result in a two-timescale response of the NH midlatitude jet to abrupt 4xCO₂ forcing: a “fast” response (5-20 years) during which it shifts equatorward and a “total” response (∼100-150 years) during which the jet shifts poleward. The latter is driven by a weakening of the AMOC that develops in response to weaker surface zonal winds, that result in reduced heat fluxes out of the subpolar gyre and reduced North Atlantic Deep Water formation. Our results suggest that stratospheric ozone changes in the lower stratosphere can have a surprisingly powerful effect on the AMOC, independent of other aspects of climate change.