Abstract
A coupled atmosphere–ocean–sea-ice model is used to investigate the climate of the Last Glacial Maximum (∼21,000 years ago) and the relative climate-forcing effects of atmosphere CO2, the Earth's orbital parameters and ice-sheet albedo. Tropical temperatures are found to be ∼2.2 °C less than today's—slightly colder than indicated by the CLIMAP palaeoclimate reconstruction. This result is consistent with a low to medium climate sensitivity to radiative perturbations. Temperatures are colder still in the northern North Atlantic region, owing to a weakening and shallowing of the thermohaline circulation. A sensitivity analysis suggests that changes in ocean circulation since the Last Glacial Maximum have not contributed directly to the global-mean temperature change since that time.
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Acknowledgements
All numerical computations were conducted locally on a suite of IBM RS6000s including two SP2s. We thank S. Rahmstorf and T. Stocker for comments on an earlier version of this manuscript, and A. Broccoli for a review which significantly improved the manuscript. This work was supported by NSERC, CSHD, CICS, NOAA and Steacie operating grants, as well as an IBM SUR grant.
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Weaver, A., Eby, M., Fanning, A. et al. Simulated influence of carbon dioxide, orbital forcing and ice sheets on the climate of the Last Glacial Maximum. Nature 394, 847–853 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/29695
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/29695
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