Simulation of Holocene cooling events in a coupled climate model.

• Published in: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Renssen, H., Goosse, H., Fichefet, T.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2007
• Subjects: /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water; name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water; Nordic Seas; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/bf29f3b8-3eef-4ed3-b41e-3f2076b1f763; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2007.07.011

Three potential mechanisms behind centennial-scale Holocene cooling events are studied in simulations performed with the coupled climate model ECBilt-CLIO: (1) internal variability, (2) solar forcing, and (3) freshwater forcing. In experiments with constant preindustrial forcings, three centennial-scale cooling events occur spontaneously in 15,000 years. These rare events represent an unstable internal mode of variability that is characterised by a weaker thermohaline circulation, a more southward location of the main site of deep-water formation, expanded sea-ice cover and cooling of 10 °C over the Nordic Seas. This mode is visited more frequently when the climate is cooled by abruptly reducing the solar constant by 5 or 3 Wm