Impact of Earth’s orbit and freshwater fluxes on Holocene climate mean seasonal cycle and ENSO characteristics

• Published in: Climate Dynamics
• Main Authors: Braconnot, P., Luan, Y., Brewer, S., Zheng, W.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Modelling the Earth Response to Multiple Anthropogenic Interactions and Dynamics (MERMAID), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Institute of Atmospheric Physics Beijing (IAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing (CAS), Department of Botany, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA, University of Wyoming, Laramie
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2012
• Subjects: [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; [SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces; environment; Pacific; Ice Sheet; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03019484; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03019484/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03019484/file/Braconnot2012_Article_ImpactOfEarthSOrbitAndFreshwat.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-011-1029-x

International audience We use a state-of-the-art 3-dimensional coupled model to investigate the relative impact of long term variations in the Holocene insolation forcing and of a freshwater release in the North Atlantic. We show that insolation has a greater effect on seasonality and La Niña events and is the major driver of sea surface temperature changes. In contrast, the variations in precipitation reflect changes in El Niño events. The impact of ice-sheet melting may have offset the impact of insolation on El Niño Southern Oscillation variability at the beginning of the Holocene. These simulations provide a coherent framework to refine the interpretation of proxy data and show that changes in seasonality may bias the projection of relationships established between proxy indicators and climate variations in the east Pacific from present day records.