The Impact of Increasing Stratospheric Radiative Damping on the QBO Period

Abstract. Stratospheric radiative damping increases as atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration rises. We use the one-dimensional mechanistic models of the QBO to conduct sensitivity experiments and find that when atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration increases, 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.