Earth’s radiative imbalance from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present
The energy imbalance at the top of the atmosphere determines the temporal evolution of the global climate, and vice versa changes in the climate system can alter the planetary energy fluxes. This interplay is fundamental to our understanding of Earth's heat budget and the climate system. Howeve...
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt3tn1d17b 2023-10-25T01:29:36+02:00 Earth’s radiative imbalance from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present Baggenstos, Daniel Häberli, Marcel Schmitt, Jochen Shackleton, Sarah A Birner, Benjamin Severinghaus, Jeffrey P Kellerhals, Thomas Fischer, Hubertus 14881 - 14886 2019-07-23 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3tn1d17b unknown eScholarship, University of California qt3tn1d17b https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3tn1d17b public Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol 116, iss 30 Earth Sciences Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Geology Climate Action paleoclimate deglaciation noble gases energy budget ice cores article 2019 ftcdlib 2023-09-25T18:04:35Z The energy imbalance at the top of the atmosphere determines the temporal evolution of the global climate, and vice versa changes in the climate system can alter the planetary energy fluxes. This interplay is fundamental to our understanding of Earth's heat budget and the climate system. However, even today, the direct measurement of global radiative fluxes is difficult, such that most assessments are based on changes in the total energy content of the climate system. We apply the same approach to estimate the long-term evolution of Earth's radiative imbalance in the past. New measurements of noble gas-derived mean ocean temperature from the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica Dome C ice core covering the last 40,000 y, combined with recent results from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide ice core and the sea-level record, allow us to quantitatively reconstruct the history of the climate system energy budget. The temporal derivative of this quantity must be equal to the planetary radiative imbalance. During the deglaciation, a positive imbalance of typically +0.2 W⋅m-2 is maintained for ∼10,000 y, however, with two distinct peaks that reach up to 0.4 W⋅m-2 during times of substantially reduced Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. We conclude that these peaks are related to net changes in ocean heat uptake, likely due to rapid changes in North Atlantic deep-water formation and their impact on the global radiative balance, while changes in cloud coverage, albeit uncertain, may also factor into the picture. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica ice core Ice Sheet North Atlantic Deep Water North Atlantic University of California: eScholarship Antarctic West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
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University of California: eScholarship |
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Earth Sciences Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Geology Climate Action paleoclimate deglaciation noble gases energy budget ice cores |
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Earth Sciences Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Geology Climate Action paleoclimate deglaciation noble gases energy budget ice cores Baggenstos, Daniel Häberli, Marcel Schmitt, Jochen Shackleton, Sarah A Birner, Benjamin Severinghaus, Jeffrey P Kellerhals, Thomas Fischer, Hubertus Earth’s radiative imbalance from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Geology Climate Action paleoclimate deglaciation noble gases energy budget ice cores |
description |
The energy imbalance at the top of the atmosphere determines the temporal evolution of the global climate, and vice versa changes in the climate system can alter the planetary energy fluxes. This interplay is fundamental to our understanding of Earth's heat budget and the climate system. However, even today, the direct measurement of global radiative fluxes is difficult, such that most assessments are based on changes in the total energy content of the climate system. We apply the same approach to estimate the long-term evolution of Earth's radiative imbalance in the past. New measurements of noble gas-derived mean ocean temperature from the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica Dome C ice core covering the last 40,000 y, combined with recent results from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide ice core and the sea-level record, allow us to quantitatively reconstruct the history of the climate system energy budget. The temporal derivative of this quantity must be equal to the planetary radiative imbalance. During the deglaciation, a positive imbalance of typically +0.2 W⋅m-2 is maintained for ∼10,000 y, however, with two distinct peaks that reach up to 0.4 W⋅m-2 during times of substantially reduced Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. We conclude that these peaks are related to net changes in ocean heat uptake, likely due to rapid changes in North Atlantic deep-water formation and their impact on the global radiative balance, while changes in cloud coverage, albeit uncertain, may also factor into the picture. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Baggenstos, Daniel Häberli, Marcel Schmitt, Jochen Shackleton, Sarah A Birner, Benjamin Severinghaus, Jeffrey P Kellerhals, Thomas Fischer, Hubertus |
author_facet |
Baggenstos, Daniel Häberli, Marcel Schmitt, Jochen Shackleton, Sarah A Birner, Benjamin Severinghaus, Jeffrey P Kellerhals, Thomas Fischer, Hubertus |
author_sort |
Baggenstos, Daniel |
title |
Earth’s radiative imbalance from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present |
title_short |
Earth’s radiative imbalance from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present |
title_full |
Earth’s radiative imbalance from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present |
title_fullStr |
Earth’s radiative imbalance from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present |
title_full_unstemmed |
Earth’s radiative imbalance from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present |
title_sort |
earth’s radiative imbalance from the last glacial maximum to the present |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3tn1d17b |
op_coverage |
14881 - 14886 |
geographic |
Antarctic West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica ice core Ice Sheet North Atlantic Deep Water North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica ice core Ice Sheet North Atlantic Deep Water North Atlantic |
op_source |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol 116, iss 30 |
op_relation |
qt3tn1d17b https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3tn1d17b |
op_rights |
public |
_version_ |
1780733582754447360 |