The response of the global stratospheric circulation to climate change

The role of the stratosphere in the climate system is increasingly being appreciated, and it is known that the circulation of the stratosphere can significantly influence surface climate and weather. The fate of the large-scale circulation of the stratosphere in a changing climate has become a much discussed topic. Despite some progress observational evidence on circulation changes is still not reconciled with model simulations and with our mechanistic understanding. The key open questions on large-scale circulation changes and their possible impacts on the climate systemare:

1. Process understanding: How is observable tracer transport coupled to the wave-driven mean mass circulation, the residual circulation?
2. How large is the uncertainty in the projections due to sub-grid scale parametrized wave forcing of the circulation?
3. How certain is the deduction of observational measures of stratospheric transport times?

Student event: Meet the speaker

We invite you to a student-only discussion-round with Prof. Dr. Hella Garny before her Munich Physics Colloquium talk. Be curious and feel free to ask any question.
Monday, 23rd of April 2018, 16:00 h, Seminar room PH 3076 (upper floor), Physik-Department der TUM, James-Franck-Straße 1, Garching.