Articles | Volume 16, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-953-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-953-2020
Research article
 | 
05 Jun 2020
Research article |  | 05 Jun 2020

Stripping back the modern to reveal the Cenomanian–Turonian climate and temperature gradient underneath

Marie Laugié, Yannick Donnadieu, Jean-Baptiste Ladant, J. A. Mattias Green, Laurent Bopp, and François Raisson

Model code and software

IPSL-CM5A-VLR IPSL Climate Modelling Centre http://forge.ipsl.jussieu.fr/igcmg_doc/wiki/Doc/Config/IPSLCM5A2

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Short summary
To quantify the impact of major climate forcings on the Cretaceous climate, we use Earth system modelling to progressively reconstruct the Cretaceous state by changing boundary conditions one by one. Between the preindustrial and the Cretaceous simulations, the model simulates a global warming of more than 11°C. The study confirms the primary control exerted by atmospheric CO2 on atmospheric temperatures. Palaeogeographic changes represent the second major contributor to the warming.