The impact of increasing stratospheric radiative damping on the quasi-biennial oscillation period

Stratospheric radiative damping increases as atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration rises. We use the one-dimensional mechanistic models of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) to conduct sensitivity experiments and find that the simulated QBO period shortens due to the enhancing of radiative damping in the stratosphere. This result suggests that increasing stratospheric radiative damping due to rising CO2 may play a role in determining the QBO period in a warming climate along with wave momentum flux entering the stratosphere and tropical vertical residual velocity, both of which also respond to increasing CO2.

Automated summary

As atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration rises, stratospheric radiative damping increases, resulting in a shorter simulated period of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO). This suggests that increasing stratospheric radiative damping due to rising CO2 may impact the QBO period in a warming climate, along with other factors responding to increasing CO2.