Transient simulation of the last glacial inception. Part II: sensitivity and feedback analysis |
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| Authors: | Reinhard Calov Andrey Ganopolski Vladimir Petoukhov Martin Claussen Victor Brovkin Claudia Kubatzki |
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| Institution: | (1) Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, P.O. Box 601203, 14412 Potsdam, Germany |
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| Abstract: | The sensitivity of the last glacial-inception (around 115 kyr BP, 115,000 years before present) to different feedback mechanisms
has been analysed by using the Earth system model of intermediate complexity CLIMBER-2. CLIMBER-2 includes dynamic modules
of the atmosphere, ocean, terrestrial biosphere and inland ice, the last of which was added recently by utilising the three-dimensonal
polythermal ice-sheet model SICOPOLIS. We performed a set of transient experiments starting at the middle of the Eemiam interglacial
and ran the model for 26,000 years with time-dependent orbital forcing and observed changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration (CO2 forcing). The role of vegetation and ocean feedback, CO2 forcing, mineral dust, thermohaline circulation and orbital insolation were closely investigated. In our model, glacial inception,
as a bifurcation in the climate system, appears in nearly all sensitivity runs including a run with constant atmospheric CO2 concentration of 280 ppmv, a typical interglacial value, and simulations with prescribed present-day sea-surface temperatures
or vegetation cover—although the rate of the growth of ice-sheets growth is smaller than in the case of the fully interactive
model. Only if we run the fully interactive model with constant present-day insolation and apply present-day CO2 forcing does no glacial inception appear at all. This implies that, within our model, the orbital forcing alone is sufficient
to trigger the interglacial–glacial transition, while vegetation, ocean and atmospheric CO2 concentration only provide additional, although important, positive feedbacks. In addition, we found that possible reorganisations
of the thermohaline circulation influence the distribution of inland ice. |
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