Response of global mesoscale convective systems to increased CO2 and uniform SST warming in a global storm‐resolving model

However, projecting future MCS behavior remains challenging due to the limitations of regional models and the inadequate representation of MCSs in coarser climate models. In this study, we use GFDL's global storm‐resolving model (GSRM), X‐SHiELD, to explore the response of global MCSs to both increased sea surface temperatures (SST) and elevated CO 2 levels using three sets of unique two‐year‐long warming simulations.

We find that SST warming leads to an increase in MCS occurrence over ocean regions while reducing it over land, whereas elevated CO 2 results in an overall increase over ocean and land. When SST and CO 2 increases are combined, their impacts on MCS changes are generally additive. Using stepwise multiple linear regression, we identify the key environmental drivers of these changes across five MCS hotspots, highlighting the regional variability in MCS responses.