Rain driven by receding ice sheets as a cause of past climate change
The Younger Dryas cold period, which interrupted the transition from the last ice age to modern conditions in Greenland, is one of the most dramatic incidents of abrupt climate change reconstructed from paleoclimate proxy records. Changes in the Atlantic Ocean overturning circulation in response to...
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American Geophysical Union
2009
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ftcaltechauth:oai:authors.library.caltech.edu:16947 2023-05-15T16:29:12+02:00 Rain driven by receding ice sheets as a cause of past climate change Eisenman, Ian Bitz, Cecilia M. Tziperman, Eli 2009-11-10 application/pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/16947/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/16947/1/Eisenman2009p6441Paleoceanography.pdf https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20091210-135025958 en eng American Geophysical Union https://authors.library.caltech.edu/16947/1/Eisenman2009p6441Paleoceanography.pdf Eisenman, Ian and Bitz, Cecilia M. and Tziperman, Eli (2009) Rain driven by receding ice sheets as a cause of past climate change. Paleoceanography, 24 . Art. No. PA4209 . ISSN 0883-8305. doi:10.1029/2009PA001778. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20091210-135025958 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20091210-135025958> other Article PeerReviewed 2009 ftcaltechauth https://doi.org/10.1029/2009PA001778 2021-11-11T18:43:45Z The Younger Dryas cold period, which interrupted the transition from the last ice age to modern conditions in Greenland, is one of the most dramatic incidents of abrupt climate change reconstructed from paleoclimate proxy records. Changes in the Atlantic Ocean overturning circulation in response to freshwater fluxes from melting ice are frequently invoked to explain this and other past climate changes. Here we propose an alternative mechanism in which the receding glacial ice sheets cause the atmospheric circulation to enter a regime with greater net precipitation in the North Atlantic region. This leads to a significant reduction in ocean overturning circulation, causing an increase in sea ice extent and hence colder temperatures. Positive feedbacks associated with sea ice amplify the cooling. We support the proposed mechanism with the results of a state-of-the-art global climate model. Our results suggest that the atmospheric precipitation response to receding glacial ice sheets could have contributed to the Younger Dryas cooling, as well as to other past climate changes involving the ocean overturning circulation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland North Atlantic Sea ice Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) Greenland Paleoceanography 24 4 |
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Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) |
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ftcaltechauth |
language |
English |
description |
The Younger Dryas cold period, which interrupted the transition from the last ice age to modern conditions in Greenland, is one of the most dramatic incidents of abrupt climate change reconstructed from paleoclimate proxy records. Changes in the Atlantic Ocean overturning circulation in response to freshwater fluxes from melting ice are frequently invoked to explain this and other past climate changes. Here we propose an alternative mechanism in which the receding glacial ice sheets cause the atmospheric circulation to enter a regime with greater net precipitation in the North Atlantic region. This leads to a significant reduction in ocean overturning circulation, causing an increase in sea ice extent and hence colder temperatures. Positive feedbacks associated with sea ice amplify the cooling. We support the proposed mechanism with the results of a state-of-the-art global climate model. Our results suggest that the atmospheric precipitation response to receding glacial ice sheets could have contributed to the Younger Dryas cooling, as well as to other past climate changes involving the ocean overturning circulation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Eisenman, Ian Bitz, Cecilia M. Tziperman, Eli |
spellingShingle |
Eisenman, Ian Bitz, Cecilia M. Tziperman, Eli Rain driven by receding ice sheets as a cause of past climate change |
author_facet |
Eisenman, Ian Bitz, Cecilia M. Tziperman, Eli |
author_sort |
Eisenman, Ian |
title |
Rain driven by receding ice sheets as a cause of past climate change |
title_short |
Rain driven by receding ice sheets as a cause of past climate change |
title_full |
Rain driven by receding ice sheets as a cause of past climate change |
title_fullStr |
Rain driven by receding ice sheets as a cause of past climate change |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rain driven by receding ice sheets as a cause of past climate change |
title_sort |
rain driven by receding ice sheets as a cause of past climate change |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/16947/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/16947/1/Eisenman2009p6441Paleoceanography.pdf https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20091210-135025958 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland North Atlantic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Greenland North Atlantic Sea ice |
op_relation |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/16947/1/Eisenman2009p6441Paleoceanography.pdf Eisenman, Ian and Bitz, Cecilia M. and Tziperman, Eli (2009) Rain driven by receding ice sheets as a cause of past climate change. Paleoceanography, 24 . Art. No. PA4209 . ISSN 0883-8305. doi:10.1029/2009PA001778. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20091210-135025958 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20091210-135025958> |
op_rights |
other |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2009PA001778 |
container_title |
Paleoceanography |
container_volume |
24 |
container_issue |
4 |
_version_ |
1766018893551239168 |