Simulating the 128-ka Antarctic climate response to Northern Hemisphere ice sheet melting using the isotope-enabled HadCM3

Holloway, M. D., Sime, L. C., Singarayer, J. S., Tindall, J. C. and Valdes, P. J. (2018) Simulating the 128-ka Antarctic climate response to Northern Hemisphere ice sheet melting using the isotope-enabled HadCM3. Geophysical Research Letters, 45 (21). 11,921-11,929. ISSN 0094-8276 doi: 10.1029/2018gl079647

Abstract/Summary

Warmer than present Antarctic and Southern Ocean temperatures during the last interglacial, approximately 128,000 years ago, have been attributed to changes in north‐south ocean heat transport, causing opposing hemispheric temperature anomalies. We investigate the magnitude of Antarctic warming and Antarctic ice core isotopic enrichment in response to Northern Hemisphere meltwater input during the early last interglacial. A 1,600‐year HadCM3 simulation driven by 0.25 Sv of meltwater input reproduces 50–60% of the peak Southern Ocean summer sea surface temperature anomaly, sea ice retreat, and ice core isotope enrichment. We also find a robust increase in the proportion of cold season precipitation during the last interglacial, leading to lower isotopic values at the Antarctic ice core sites. These results suggest that a HadCM3 simulation including 0.25 Sv for 3,000–4,000 years would reconcile the last interglacial observations, providing a potential solution for the last interglacial missing heat problem.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/80623
Identification Number/DOI	10.1029/2018gl079647
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher	American Geophysical Union
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