Early Eocene Arctic climate sensitivity to pCO2and basin geography

Autor: Jean-Francois Lamarque, Cindy J. Shellito, Lisa C. Sloan
Rok vydání: 2009
Předmět:
Zdroj: Geophysical Research Letters. 36
ISSN: 0094-8276
DOI: 10.1029/2009gl037248
Popis: [1] We present results from new early Eocene (∼55–45 Ma) climate modeling experiments with the NCAR Community Climate System Model. These experiments test the sensitivity of climate to a large increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases, such as may have occurred at the Paleocene-Eocene (P-E) boundary (∼55.5 Ma), and also allow us to explore the role of Arctic basin configuration on climate. Experiments were run with pCO2 at 560 and 2240 ppm, and a third experiment, at 2240 ppm, incorporates a passage to a neighboring ocean to explore the potential effect of the ocean on Arctic warming, were the Arctic not isolated. Quadrupling pCO2 warms the Arctic by ∼8°C in the annual average, doubles atmospheric moisture content in this region and eliminates Arctic sea ice, consistent with proxy estimates of warming at the P-E boundary. Opening the Arctic Ocean warms mean annual sea surface temperature by an additional ∼4°C.
Databáze: OpenAIRE