Anthropogenic changes of interannual-to-decadal climate variability in CMIP6 multi-ensemble simulations

Abstract As well as having an impact on the background state of the climate, global warming due to human activities could affect its natural oscillations and internal variability. In this study, we use four initial-condition ensembles from the CMIP6 framework to investigate the potential evolution of internal climate variability under different warming pathways for the 21st century. Our results suggest significant changes in natural climate variability, and point to two distinct regimes driving these changes. First, a decrease of internal variability of surface air temperature at high latitudes and all frequencies, associated with a poleward shift and the gradual disappearance of sea-ice edges, which we show to be an important component of internal variability. Second, an intensification of the interannual variability of surface air temperature and precipitation at low latitudes, which appears to be associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). This second regime is particularly alarming because it may contribute to making the climate more unstable and less predictable, with a significant impact on human societies and ecosystems.