Articles | Volume 12, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2011-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2011-2016
Research article
 | 
28 Oct 2016
Research article |  | 28 Oct 2016

Warm Greenland during the last interglacial: the role of regional changes in sea ice cover

Niklaus Merz, Andreas Born, Christoph C. Raible, and Thomas F. Stocker

Related authors

How warm was Greenland during the last interglacial period?
Amaelle Landais, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Emilie Capron, Petra M. Langebroek, Pepijn Bakker, Emma J. Stone, Niklaus Merz, Christoph C. Raible, Hubertus Fischer, Anaïs Orsi, Frédéric Prié, Bo Vinther, and Dorthe Dahl-Jensen
Clim. Past, 12, 1933–1948, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1933-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1933-2016, 2016
Short summary
Dependence of Eemian Greenland temperature reconstructions on the ice sheet topography
N. Merz, A. Born, C. C. Raible, H. Fischer, and T. F. Stocker
Clim. Past, 10, 1221–1238, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1221-2014,https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1221-2014, 2014
Greenland accumulation and its connection to the large-scale atmospheric circulation in ERA-Interim and paleoclimate simulations
N. Merz, C. C. Raible, H. Fischer, V. Varma, M. Prange, and T. F. Stocker
Clim. Past, 9, 2433–2450, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-2433-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-2433-2013, 2013

Related subject area

Subject: Atmospheric Dynamics | Archive: Ice Cores | Timescale: Milankovitch
Spiky fluctuations and scaling in high-resolution EPICA ice core dust fluxes
Shaun Lovejoy and Fabrice Lambert
Clim. Past, 15, 1999–2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1999-2019,https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1999-2019, 2019
Short summary
Spatial pattern of accumulation at Taylor Dome during Marine Isotope Stage 4: stratigraphic constraints from Taylor Glacier
James A. Menking, Edward J. Brook, Sarah A. Shackleton, Jeffrey P. Severinghaus, Michael N. Dyonisius, Vasilii Petrenko, Joseph R. McConnell, Rachael H. Rhodes, Thomas K. Bauska, Daniel Baggenstos, Shaun Marcott, and Stephen Barker
Clim. Past, 15, 1537–1556, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1537-2019,https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1537-2019, 2019
Short summary
How warm was Greenland during the last interglacial period?
Amaelle Landais, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Emilie Capron, Petra M. Langebroek, Pepijn Bakker, Emma J. Stone, Niklaus Merz, Christoph C. Raible, Hubertus Fischer, Anaïs Orsi, Frédéric Prié, Bo Vinther, and Dorthe Dahl-Jensen
Clim. Past, 12, 1933–1948, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1933-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1933-2016, 2016
Short summary
Dependence of Eemian Greenland temperature reconstructions on the ice sheet topography
N. Merz, A. Born, C. C. Raible, H. Fischer, and T. F. Stocker
Clim. Past, 10, 1221–1238, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1221-2014,https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1221-2014, 2014
A comparison of the present and last interglacial periods in six Antarctic ice cores
V. Masson-Delmotte, D. Buiron, A. Ekaykin, M. Frezzotti, H. Gallée, J. Jouzel, G. Krinner, A. Landais, H. Motoyama, H. Oerter, K. Pol, D. Pollard, C. Ritz, E. Schlosser, L. C. Sime, H. Sodemann, B. Stenni, R. Uemura, and F. Vimeux
Clim. Past, 7, 397–423, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-397-2011,https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-397-2011, 2011

Cited articles

Alexander, M. A., Bhatt, U. S., Walsh, J. E., Timlin, M. S., Miller, J. S., and Scott, J. D.: The atmospheric response to realistic Arctic sea ice anomalies in an AGCM during winter, J. Climate, 17, 890–905, 2004.
Axford, Y., Briner, J. P., Francis, D. R., Miller, G. H., Walker, I. R., and Wolfe, A. P.: Chironomids record terrestrial temperature changes throughout Arctic interglacials of the past 200,000 yr, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 123, 1275–1287, https://doi.org/10.1130/B30329.1, 2011.
Bakker, P., Stone, E. J., Charbit, S., Gröger, M., Krebs-Kanzow, U., Ritz, S. P., Varma, V., Khon, V., Lunt, D. J., Mikolajewicz, U., Prange, M., Renssen, H., Schneider, B., and Schulz, M.: Last interglacial temperature evolution – a model inter-comparison, Clim. Past, 9, 605–619, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-605-2013, 2013.
Bauch, H. A., Kandiano, E. S., and Helmke, J. P.: Contrasting ocean changes between the subpolar and polar North Atlantic during the past 135 ka, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L11604, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL051800, 2012.
Berger, A. L.: Long-term variations of daily insolation and Quaternary climatic changes, J. Atmos. Sci., 35, 2362–2367, 1978.
Download
Short summary
The last (Eemian) interglacial is studied with a global climate model focusing on Greenland and the adjacent high latitudes. A set of model experiments demonstrates the crucial role of changes in sea ice and sea surface temperatures for the magnitude of Eemian atmospheric warming. Greenland temperatures are found highly sensitive to sea ice changes in the Nordic Seas but rather insensitive to changes in the Labrador Sea. This behavior has important implications for Greenland ice core signals.