Ice-albedo feedback in the Northern Hemisphere during the Last Glacial Maximum

• Main Authors: Melissa A. Burt, David A. Randall, Bette L. Otto-bliesner
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean; albedo; Climate change; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.424.1571; http://kiwi.atmos.colostate.edu/pubs/Burt_Randall_Otto-Bliesner_submitted.pdf

We use simulations performed with the Community Climate System Model version 3 (CCSM3), a coupled global climate model, to examine the role of the ice-albedo feedback in the Northern Hemisphere for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and Pre-Industrial (PI) climates. The simulated PI climate is 4.9 Celsius warmer globally than the LGM climate, with the greatest warming in the high latitudes of both hemispheres. The positive ice-albedo feedback acts to amplify the climate change as a consequence of the melting of sea ice and ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere. An unexpected and interesting result is that the ice-albedo feedback is negative in some regions, particularly in the Arctic Ocean, because of an increased ocean basin size at PI. We investigate the roles of ocean basin size, snow cover, sea ice, and incoming solar radiation in determining this result.