Multiple causes of the Younger Dryas cold period
The Younger Dryas cooling event disrupted the overall warming trend in the North Atlantic region during the last deglaciation1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Climate change during the Younger Dryas was abrupt7, 8, 9, and thus provides insights into the sensitivity of the climate system to perturbations. The sudden...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:512697 2023-05-15T17:33:26+02:00 Multiple causes of the Younger Dryas cold period Renssen, Hans Mairesse, Aurélien Goosse, Hugues Mathiot, Pierre Heiri, Oliver Roche, Didier M. Nisancioglu, Kerim H. Valdes, Paul J. 2015-12 http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/512697/ https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2557 unknown Nature Publishing Group Renssen, Hans; Mairesse, Aurélien; Goosse, Hugues; Mathiot, Pierre; Heiri, Oliver; Roche, Didier M.; Nisancioglu, Kerim H.; Valdes, Paul J. 2015 Multiple causes of the Younger Dryas cold period. Nature Geoscience, 8 (12). 946-949. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2557 <https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2557> Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2015 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2557 2023-02-04T19:42:35Z The Younger Dryas cooling event disrupted the overall warming trend in the North Atlantic region during the last deglaciation1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Climate change during the Younger Dryas was abrupt7, 8, 9, and thus provides insights into the sensitivity of the climate system to perturbations. The sudden Younger Dryas cooling has traditionally been attributed to a shutdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation by meltwater discharges10, 11, 12, 13. However, alternative explanations such as strong negative radiative forcing14 and a shift in atmospheric circulation15 have also been offered. Here we investigate the importance of these different forcings in coupled climate model experiments constrained by data assimilation. We find that the Younger Dryas climate signal as registered in proxy evidence is best simulated using a combination of processes: a weakened Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, moderate negative radiative forcing and an altered atmospheric circulation. We conclude that none of the individual mechanisms alone provide a plausible explanation for the Younger Dryas cold period. We suggest that the triggers for abrupt climate changes such as the Younger Dryas are more complex than suggested so far, and that studies on the response of the climate system to perturbations should account for this complexity. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Nature Geoscience 8 12 946 949 |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
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The Younger Dryas cooling event disrupted the overall warming trend in the North Atlantic region during the last deglaciation1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Climate change during the Younger Dryas was abrupt7, 8, 9, and thus provides insights into the sensitivity of the climate system to perturbations. The sudden Younger Dryas cooling has traditionally been attributed to a shutdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation by meltwater discharges10, 11, 12, 13. However, alternative explanations such as strong negative radiative forcing14 and a shift in atmospheric circulation15 have also been offered. Here we investigate the importance of these different forcings in coupled climate model experiments constrained by data assimilation. We find that the Younger Dryas climate signal as registered in proxy evidence is best simulated using a combination of processes: a weakened Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, moderate negative radiative forcing and an altered atmospheric circulation. We conclude that none of the individual mechanisms alone provide a plausible explanation for the Younger Dryas cold period. We suggest that the triggers for abrupt climate changes such as the Younger Dryas are more complex than suggested so far, and that studies on the response of the climate system to perturbations should account for this complexity. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Renssen, Hans Mairesse, Aurélien Goosse, Hugues Mathiot, Pierre Heiri, Oliver Roche, Didier M. Nisancioglu, Kerim H. Valdes, Paul J. |
spellingShingle |
Renssen, Hans Mairesse, Aurélien Goosse, Hugues Mathiot, Pierre Heiri, Oliver Roche, Didier M. Nisancioglu, Kerim H. Valdes, Paul J. Multiple causes of the Younger Dryas cold period |
author_facet |
Renssen, Hans Mairesse, Aurélien Goosse, Hugues Mathiot, Pierre Heiri, Oliver Roche, Didier M. Nisancioglu, Kerim H. Valdes, Paul J. |
author_sort |
Renssen, Hans |
title |
Multiple causes of the Younger Dryas cold period |
title_short |
Multiple causes of the Younger Dryas cold period |
title_full |
Multiple causes of the Younger Dryas cold period |
title_fullStr |
Multiple causes of the Younger Dryas cold period |
title_full_unstemmed |
Multiple causes of the Younger Dryas cold period |
title_sort |
multiple causes of the younger dryas cold period |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/512697/ https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2557 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_relation |
Renssen, Hans; Mairesse, Aurélien; Goosse, Hugues; Mathiot, Pierre; Heiri, Oliver; Roche, Didier M.; Nisancioglu, Kerim H.; Valdes, Paul J. 2015 Multiple causes of the Younger Dryas cold period. Nature Geoscience, 8 (12). 946-949. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2557 <https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2557> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2557 |
container_title |
Nature Geoscience |
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8 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
946 |
op_container_end_page |
949 |
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1766131938613002240 |