Understanding the uncertainty in the West African monsoon precipitation response to increasing CO2

Mutton, Harry; Chadwick, Robin; Collins, Matthew; Lambert, F. Hugo; Taylor, Christopher M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0120-3198; Geen, Ruth; Douville, Hervé; Saint-Lu, Marion. 2025 Understanding the uncertainty in the West African monsoon precipitation response to increasing CO2. Journal of Climate, 38 (13). 3151-3168. 10.1175/JCLI-D-24-0506.1

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-24-0506.1

Abstract/Summary

The West African Monsoon (WAM) precipitation response to increased CO 2 is uncertain, with both large increases and decreases predicted by CMIP6 models. To address this, the full impact of increased CO 2 has been decomposed into several drivers, three of which are shown to contribute most to the uncertainty in theWAM precipitation response; the direct radiative effect of increased CO 2 , the impact of a uniform Sea Surface Temperature (SST) warming, and the impact of a patterned SST change. Much of the uncertainty associated with the response to the direct radiative effect and uniform SST warming is shown to be related to differing changes in 700hPa moisture flux divergence associated with the shallow meridional circulation over West Africa as well as differences in a soil moisture - surface heat flux feedback over the Sahel. For the SST pattern effect, the difference between North Atlantic SSTs and tropical mean SSTs, as well as inter-hemispheric gradients in surface temperatures are key drivers of intermodel spread. Suggestions for how to reduce uncertainty in the response are discussed.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1175/JCLI-D-24-0506.1
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Water and Climate Science (2025-)
ISSN:	0894-8755
Additional Information:	Full text freely available via Official URL link.
NORA Subject Terms:	Meteorology and Climatology Atmospheric Sciences
Date made live:	12 Jun 2025 09:45 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/539559

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1175/JCLI-D-24-0506.1

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Water and Climate Science (2025-)

ISSN:

0894-8755

Additional Information:

Full text freely available via Official URL link.

NORA Subject Terms:

Meteorology and Climatology
Atmospheric Sciences