We seek a talented post-doctoral scientist to carry out research to better understand how the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) may change in the future. This research is an important component of the international research project, EPOC (https://www.epoc-eu.org/), which is a collaboration between 21 institutions across Europe, the US, and Canada.
You will improve our understanding of the drivers of AMOC, including the impact of external forcings such as greenhouse gases. You will also explore how model resolution affects the simulation of the AMOC and its response to external forcings.
The AMOC is an important ocean current due to its role in moving heat, freshwater, and carbon through the climate system. Changes in the strength of the AMOC on a range of time-scales are hypothesised to be an important driver of regional and global climate. In the future, we expect the AMOC to weaken due to climate change. However, we are unsure of the dominant processes that shape AMOC variability and change and, hence, there are currently large uncertainties in how fast and how large an AMOC weakening might be. Furthermore, indirect evidence suggests that the AMOC might have already declined, which could have important implications.
The post-holder will use coupled model simulations and observations to better understand the processes that lead to AMOC variability and future changes; in particular, they will better understand the sensitivity of AMOC to increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. To do this, the post-holder will use a water mass transformation framework to understand what processes shape the AMOC’s response to external forcings. They will also address the questions of why AMOC decline appears larger in high-resolution climate models.
Link:
https://jobs.reading.ac.uk/Job/JobDetail?JobId=12628
Closing date:
November 16, 2023