Articles | Volume 12, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1933-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1933-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
29 Sep 2016
Research article |
| 29 Sep 2016
How warm was Greenland during the last interglacial period?
Amaelle Landais
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement – IPSL, UMR
8212, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ-Université Paris Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Valérie Masson-Delmotte
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement – IPSL, UMR
8212, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ-Université Paris Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Emilie Capron
Center for Ice and Climate, Niels Bohr Institute, University of
Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
British Antarctic Survey, High Cross Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3
0ET, UK
Petra M. Langebroek
Uni Research Climate, Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research,
Nygårdsgaten 112-114, 5008 Bergen, Norway
Pepijn Bakker
College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State
University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
Emma J. Stone
BRIDGE, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol,
Bristol, UK
Niklaus Merz
Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute, and Oeschger
Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5,
3012 Bern, Switzerland
Christoph C. Raible
Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute, and Oeschger
Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5,
3012 Bern, Switzerland
Hubertus Fischer
Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute, and Oeschger
Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5,
3012 Bern, Switzerland
Anaïs Orsi
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement – IPSL, UMR
8212, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ-Université Paris Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Frédéric Prié
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement – IPSL, UMR
8212, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ-Université Paris Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Bo Vinther
Center for Ice and Climate, Niels Bohr Institute, University of
Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
Dorthe Dahl-Jensen
Center for Ice and Climate, Niels Bohr Institute, University of
Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
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- Summer warmth of the past six interglacials on Greenland A. Cluett & E. Thomas 10.1073/pnas.2022916118
- Enhanced summer extreme precipitation over the Asian-African land monsoon regions during past warm periods: A modelling perspective from CESM2 X. Kong et al. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108291
- Speleothem record of mild and wet mid-Pleistocene climate in northeast Greenland G. Moseley et al. 10.1126/sciadv.abe1260
- Seasonal variability in temperature trends and atmospheric circulation systems during the Eemian (Last Interglacial) based on n-alkanes hydrogen isotopes from Northern Finland C. Katrantsiotis et al. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107250
- Deciphering the variations and mechanisms of the westerly jets across the Northern Hemisphere during the Last Interglacial based on PMIP4 models N. Jiang et al. 10.1007/s00382-021-06100-4
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- Simulating the Last Interglacial Greenland stable water isotope peak: The role of Arctic sea ice changes I. Malmierca-Vallet et al. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.07.027
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- Palaeoclimate constraints on the impact of 2 °C anthropogenic warming and beyond H. Fischer et al. 10.1038/s41561-018-0146-0
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- Pronounced summer warming in northwest Greenland during the Holocene and Last Interglacial J. McFarlin et al. 10.1073/pnas.1720420115
- Eemian Greenland ice sheet simulated with a higher-order model shows strong sensitivity to surface mass balance forcing A. Plach et al. 10.5194/tc-13-2133-2019
- Elevated equilibrium line altitude over High Mountain Asia during the Last Interglacial J. Zhang & Q. Yan 10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109267
- Antiphase change in Walker Circulation between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean during the Last Interglacial induced by interbasin sea surface temperature anomaly contrast J. Ma et al. 10.1007/s00382-023-07039-4
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- Asynchronous hydroclimate changes across the Tibetan Plateau during Marine Isotope Stage 5 Y. Hou et al. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108931
- Using a multi-layer snow model for transient paleo-studies: surface mass balance evolution during the Last Interglacial T. Hoang et al. 10.5194/cp-21-27-2025
- Land–sea temperature contrasts at the Last Interglacial and their impact on the hydrological cycle N. Yeung et al. 10.5194/cp-17-869-2021
3 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Greenland Ice Sheet influence on Last Interglacial climate: global sensitivity studies performed with an atmosphere–ocean general circulation model M. Pfeiffer & G. Lohmann 10.5194/cp-12-1313-2016
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Latest update: 31 May 2025
Short summary
The last lnterglacial (LIG; 116 000 to 129 000 years before present) surface temperature at the upstream Greenland NEEM deposition site is estimated to be warmer by +7 to +11 °C compared to the preindustrial period. We show that under such warm temperatures, melting of snow probably led to a significant surface melting. There is a paradox between the extent of the Greenland ice sheet during the LIG and the strong warming during this period that models cannot solve.
The last lnterglacial (LIG; 116 000 to 129 000 years before present) surface temperature at the...
