Modelling the climate evolution from the last interglacial to the start of the last glaciation: The role of Arctic Ocean freshwater budget

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Khodri, M., Ramstein, Gilles, Paillard, D., Duplessy, J., Kageyama, M., Ganopolski, A.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), 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)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), Modélisation du climat (CLIM), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-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)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Paléocéanographie (PALEOCEAN), Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2003
• Subjects: INDEX TERMS: 3344 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Paleoclimatology; 3309 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Climatology (1620); 3339 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Ocean/atmosphere interactions (0312; 4504); 4267 Oceanography: General: Paleoceanography; 1620 Global Change: Climate dynamics (3309) Citation: [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; [SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces; environment; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02930154; https://hal.science/hal-02930154/document; https://hal.science/hal-02930154/file/2003GL017108.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2003GL017108

International audience [1] The Earth's climate has alternated between glacial and interglacial stages, but we still do not understand how the changes in insolation have been amplified by the climate system to lead to such a large climatic response. Here we use a climate model of intermediate complexity to show that the orbitally induced shift from an interglacial to a pre-glacial climate is highly sensitive to the high northern latitudes moisture budget. Using the insolation forcing alone, the model produces a first order response of sea surface temperatures and thermohaline circulation evolution which agrees with the available geological data. Under the same gradual insolation evolution, adding a small freshwater input into the Arctic Ocean induces a rapid climate switch from an interglacial to a pre-glacial mode. These results suggest a simple connection between orbital forcing and the thermohaline circulation through a freshwater threshold within the ocean-atmosphere-sea-ice system. Modelling the climate evolution from the last interglacial to the start of the last glaciation: The role of Arctic Ocean freshwater budget, Geophys.