Warm Greenland during the last interglacial: the role of regional changes in sea ice cover
The last interglacial, also known as the Eemian, is characterized by warmer than present conditions at high latitudes. This is implied by various Eemian proxy records as well as by climate model simulations, though the models mostly underestimate the warming with respect to proxies. Simulations of E...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:ee12497c5fc548d1857c6ef9bb09f8b1 2023-05-15T16:27:18+02:00 Warm Greenland during the last interglacial: the role of regional changes in sea ice cover N. Merz A. Born C. C. Raible T. F. Stocker 2016-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2011-2016 https://doaj.org/article/ee12497c5fc548d1857c6ef9bb09f8b1 EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.clim-past.net/12/2011/2016/cp-12-2011-2016.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 1814-9324 1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-12-2011-2016 https://doaj.org/article/ee12497c5fc548d1857c6ef9bb09f8b1 Climate of the Past, Vol 12, Iss 10, Pp 2011-2031 (2016) Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2011-2016 2023-01-08T01:31:44Z The last interglacial, also known as the Eemian, is characterized by warmer than present conditions at high latitudes. This is implied by various Eemian proxy records as well as by climate model simulations, though the models mostly underestimate the warming with respect to proxies. Simulations of Eemian surface air temperatures (SAT) in the Northern Hemisphere extratropics further show large variations between different climate models, and it has been hypothesized that this model spread relates to diverse representations of the Eemian sea ice cover. Here we use versions 3 and 4 of the Community Climate System Model (CCSM3 and CCSM4) to highlight the crucial role of sea ice and sea surface temperatures changes for the Eemian climate, in particular in the North Atlantic sector and in Greenland. A substantial reduction in sea ice cover results in an amplified atmospheric warming and thus a better agreement with Eemian proxy records. Sensitivity experiments with idealized lower boundary conditions reveal that warming over Greenland is mostly due to a sea ice retreat in the Nordic Seas. In contrast, sea ice changes in the Labrador Sea have a limited local impact. Changes in sea ice cover in either region are transferred to the overlying atmosphere through anomalous surface energy fluxes. The large-scale spread of the warming resulting from a Nordic Seas sea ice retreat is mostly explained by anomalous heat advection rather than by radiation or condensation processes. In addition, the sea ice perturbations lead to changes in the hydrological cycle. Our results consequently imply that both temperature and snow accumulation records from Greenland ice cores are sensitive to sea ice changes in the Nordic Seas but insensitive to sea ice changes in the Labrador Sea. Moreover, the simulations suggest that the uncertainty in the Eemian sea ice cover accounts for 1.6 °C of the Eemian warming at the NEEM ice core site. The estimated Eemian warming of 5 °C above present day based on the NEEM δ 15 N record can be reconstructed ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Greenland ice cores ice core Labrador Sea Nordic Seas North Atlantic Sea ice Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland Climate of the Past 12 10 2011 2031 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 N. Merz A. Born C. C. Raible T. F. Stocker Warm Greenland during the last interglacial: the role of regional changes in sea ice cover |
topic_facet |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
The last interglacial, also known as the Eemian, is characterized by warmer than present conditions at high latitudes. This is implied by various Eemian proxy records as well as by climate model simulations, though the models mostly underestimate the warming with respect to proxies. Simulations of Eemian surface air temperatures (SAT) in the Northern Hemisphere extratropics further show large variations between different climate models, and it has been hypothesized that this model spread relates to diverse representations of the Eemian sea ice cover. Here we use versions 3 and 4 of the Community Climate System Model (CCSM3 and CCSM4) to highlight the crucial role of sea ice and sea surface temperatures changes for the Eemian climate, in particular in the North Atlantic sector and in Greenland. A substantial reduction in sea ice cover results in an amplified atmospheric warming and thus a better agreement with Eemian proxy records. Sensitivity experiments with idealized lower boundary conditions reveal that warming over Greenland is mostly due to a sea ice retreat in the Nordic Seas. In contrast, sea ice changes in the Labrador Sea have a limited local impact. Changes in sea ice cover in either region are transferred to the overlying atmosphere through anomalous surface energy fluxes. The large-scale spread of the warming resulting from a Nordic Seas sea ice retreat is mostly explained by anomalous heat advection rather than by radiation or condensation processes. In addition, the sea ice perturbations lead to changes in the hydrological cycle. Our results consequently imply that both temperature and snow accumulation records from Greenland ice cores are sensitive to sea ice changes in the Nordic Seas but insensitive to sea ice changes in the Labrador Sea. Moreover, the simulations suggest that the uncertainty in the Eemian sea ice cover accounts for 1.6 °C of the Eemian warming at the NEEM ice core site. The estimated Eemian warming of 5 °C above present day based on the NEEM δ 15 N record can be reconstructed ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
N. Merz A. Born C. C. Raible T. F. Stocker |
author_facet |
N. Merz A. Born C. C. Raible T. F. Stocker |
author_sort |
N. Merz |
title |
Warm Greenland during the last interglacial: the role of regional changes in sea ice cover |
title_short |
Warm Greenland during the last interglacial: the role of regional changes in sea ice cover |
title_full |
Warm Greenland during the last interglacial: the role of regional changes in sea ice cover |
title_fullStr |
Warm Greenland during the last interglacial: the role of regional changes in sea ice cover |
title_full_unstemmed |
Warm Greenland during the last interglacial: the role of regional changes in sea ice cover |
title_sort |
warm greenland during the last interglacial: the role of regional changes in sea ice cover |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2011-2016 https://doaj.org/article/ee12497c5fc548d1857c6ef9bb09f8b1 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Greenland ice cores ice core Labrador Sea Nordic Seas North Atlantic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Greenland Greenland ice cores ice core Labrador Sea Nordic Seas North Atlantic Sea ice |
op_source |
Climate of the Past, Vol 12, Iss 10, Pp 2011-2031 (2016) |
op_relation |
http://www.clim-past.net/12/2011/2016/cp-12-2011-2016.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 1814-9324 1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-12-2011-2016 https://doaj.org/article/ee12497c5fc548d1857c6ef9bb09f8b1 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2011-2016 |
container_title |
Climate of the Past |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
2011 |
op_container_end_page |
2031 |
_version_ |
1766016442630668288 |