Stephen J Vavrus
Biographic Data
| ID | 5657342 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Stephen J Vavrus |
| GIVEN NAMES | Stephen J |
| FAMILY NAME | Vavrus |
| SIGNATURE | VAVRUS S J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 7 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 5 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 7 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Wind amplifies the polar sea ice retreat
The rapid polar sea ice retreat and its drivers are challenging and still unresolved questions in climate change research. In particular, the relationship between near-surface wind speed and sea ice extent remains unclear for two main reasons: (1) observed wind speeds over Polar Regions are very sparse, and (2) simulated winds by climate models are dependent on subjective parameterizations of boundary layer stratification, ultimately leading to l…
Projected squeezing of the wintertime North-Atlantic jet
The future response of the atmospheric circulation to increased anthropogenic forcing is uncertain, in particular due to competing influences of the large projected warming at the surface in the Arctic, and at upper-levels in the tropics. In the present study two ensembles of fully-coupled 21st century climate simulations are used to analyze changes in the wintertime eddy-driven jet in the North Atlantic and the relation to the well-defined therm…
Amplified Arctic warming and mid‐latitude weather
The Arctic is warming and melting at alarming rates. Within the lifetime of a Millennial, the volume of ice floating on the Arctic Ocean has declined by at least half. The pace of Arctic warming is two‐to‐three times that of the globe; this disparity reached a new record high during 2016. While the Arctic spans only a small fraction of the Earth, it plays a disproportionate and multifaceted role in the climate system. In this article, we offer ne…
Spring plant phenology and false springs in the conterminous US during the 21st century
The onset of spring plant growth has shifted earlier in the year over the past several decades due to rising global temperatures. Earlier spring onset may cause phenological mismatches between the availability of plant resources and dependent animals, and potentially lead to more false springs, when subsequent freezing temperatures damage new plant growth. We used the extended spring indices to project changes in spring onset, defined by leaf out…
Evidence for a wavier jet stream in response to rapid Arctic warming
New metrics and evidence are presented that support a linkage between rapid Arctic warming, relative to Northern hemisphere mid-latitudes, and more frequent high-amplitude (wavy) jet-stream configurations that favor persistent weather patterns. We find robust relationships among seasonal and regional patterns of weaker poleward thickness gradients, weaker zonal upper-level winds, and a more meridional flow direction. These results suggest that as…
Evidence linking Arctic amplification to extreme weather in mid‐latitudes
Arctic amplification (AA) – the observed enhanced warming in high northern latitudes relative to the northern hemisphere – is evident in lower‐tropospheric temperatures and in 1000‐to‐500 hPa thicknesses. Daily fields of 500 hPa heights from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Reanalysis are analyzed over N. America and the N. Atlantic to assess changes in north‐south (Rossby) wave characteristics associated with AA and the relaxati…
The relationships between Arctic sea ice and cloud-related variables in the ERA-Interim reanalysis and CCSM3
This study uses reanalysis data from ECMWF ERA-Interim and GCM output from the CCSM3 to investigate how sea ice and clouds interact locally (within individual grid boxes) and whether similar variability between the two datasets is captured. During autumn (October), the vertically integrated low cloud amount increases over increased sea ice in the reanalysis, but decreases in the GCM output. Closer inspection, however, reveals that both datasets h…
Amplified Arctic warming and mid‐latitude weather
The Arctic is warming and melting at alarming rates. Within the lifetime of a Millennial, the volume of ice floating on the Arctic Ocean has declined by at least half. The pace of Arctic warming is two‐to‐three times that of the globe; this disparity reached a new record high during 2016. While the Arctic spans only a small fraction of the Earth, it plays a disproportionate and multifaceted role in the climate system. In this article, we offer ne…
The relationships between Arctic sea ice and cloud-related variables in the ERA-Interim reanalysis and CCSM3
This study uses reanalysis data from ECMWF ERA-Interim and GCM output from the CCSM3 to investigate how sea ice and clouds interact locally (within individual grid boxes) and whether similar variability between the two datasets is captured. During autumn (October), the vertically integrated low cloud amount increases over increased sea ice in the reanalysis, but decreases in the GCM output. Closer inspection, however, reveals that both datasets h…
Evidence linking Arctic amplification to extreme weather in mid‐latitudes
Arctic amplification (AA) – the observed enhanced warming in high northern latitudes relative to the northern hemisphere – is evident in lower‐tropospheric temperatures and in 1000‐to‐500 hPa thicknesses. Daily fields of 500 hPa heights from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Reanalysis are analyzed over N. America and the N. Atlantic to assess changes in north‐south (Rossby) wave characteristics associated with AA and the relaxati…
Spring plant phenology and false springs in the conterminous US during the 21st century
The onset of spring plant growth has shifted earlier in the year over the past several decades due to rising global temperatures. Earlier spring onset may cause phenological mismatches between the availability of plant resources and dependent animals, and potentially lead to more false springs, when subsequent freezing temperatures damage new plant growth. We used the extended spring indices to project changes in spring onset, defined by leaf out…
Evidence for a wavier jet stream in response to rapid Arctic warming
New metrics and evidence are presented that support a linkage between rapid Arctic warming, relative to Northern hemisphere mid-latitudes, and more frequent high-amplitude (wavy) jet-stream configurations that favor persistent weather patterns. We find robust relationships among seasonal and regional patterns of weaker poleward thickness gradients, weaker zonal upper-level winds, and a more meridional flow direction. These results suggest that as…
Amplified Arctic warming and mid‐latitude weather
The Arctic is warming and melting at alarming rates. Within the lifetime of a Millennial, the volume of ice floating on the Arctic Ocean has declined by at least half. The pace of Arctic warming is two‐to‐three times that of the globe; this disparity reached a new record high during 2016. While the Arctic spans only a small fraction of the Earth, it plays a disproportionate and multifaceted role in the climate system. In this article, we offer ne…
Projected squeezing of the wintertime North-Atlantic jet
The future response of the atmospheric circulation to increased anthropogenic forcing is uncertain, in particular due to competing influences of the large projected warming at the surface in the Arctic, and at upper-levels in the tropics. In the present study two ensembles of fully-coupled 21st century climate simulations are used to analyze changes in the wintertime eddy-driven jet in the North Atlantic and the relation to the well-defined therm…
Wind amplifies the polar sea ice retreat
The rapid polar sea ice retreat and its drivers are challenging and still unresolved questions in climate change research. In particular, the relationship between near-surface wind speed and sea ice extent remains unclear for two main reasons: (1) observed wind speeds over Polar Regions are very sparse, and (2) simulated winds by climate models are dependent on subjective parameterizations of boundary layer stratification, ultimately leading to l…
Climate change (7 works) · Climatology (7 works) · Environmental Science (7 works) · Arctic (6 works) · Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics (6 works) · Atmospheric sciences (6 works) · Climate variability and models (6 works) · Geology (6 works) · Oceanography (6 works) · Arctic ice pack (3 works)