Articles | Volume 19, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-277-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-277-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
01 Feb 2023
Research article |
| 01 Feb 2023
| 01 Feb 2023
Using data and models to infer climate and environmental changes during the Little Ice Age in tropical West Africa
Anne-Marie Lézine
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat, Expérimentation et Approche numérique/IPSL, Sorbonne Université – CNRS-IRD-MNHN, 4 Place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France
Maé Catrain
Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat, Expérimentation et Approche numérique/IPSL, Sorbonne Université – CNRS-IRD-MNHN, 4 Place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France
Julián Villamayor
Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat, Expérimentation et Approche numérique/IPSL, Sorbonne Université – CNRS-IRD-MNHN, 4 Place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France
Department of Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate, Institute of Physical Chemistry Rocasolano, CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Myriam Khodri
Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat, Expérimentation et Approche numérique/IPSL, Sorbonne Université – CNRS-IRD-MNHN, 4 Place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France
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Clim. Past, 21, 161–184, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-161-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-161-2025, 2025
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Large volcanic eruptions have caused temperature deviations over the past 1000 years; however, climate model results and reconstructions of surface cooling using tree rings do not match. We explore this mismatch using the latest models and find a better match to tree-ring reconstructions for some eruptions. Our results show that the way in which eruptions are simulated in models matters for the comparison to tree-rings, particularly regarding the spatial spread of volcanic aerosol.
Davide Zanchettin, Claudia Timmreck, Myriam Khodri, Anja Schmidt, Matthew Toohey, Manabu Abe, Slimane Bekki, Jason Cole, Shih-Wei Fang, Wuhu Feng, Gabriele Hegerl, Ben Johnson, Nicolas Lebas, Allegra N. LeGrande, Graham W. Mann, Lauren Marshall, Landon Rieger, Alan Robock, Sara Rubinetti, Kostas Tsigaridis, and Helen Weierbach
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 2265–2292, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-2265-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-2265-2022, 2022
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This paper provides metadata and first analyses of the volc-pinatubo-full experiment of CMIP6-VolMIP. Results from six Earth system models reveal significant differences in radiative flux anomalies that trace back to different implementations of volcanic forcing. Surface responses are in contrast overall consistent across models, reflecting the large spread due to internal variability. A second phase of VolMIP shall consider both aspects toward improved protocol for volc-pinatubo-full.
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This study finds how and why five state-of-the-art global climate models with interactive stratospheric aerosols differ when simulating the aftermath of large volcanic injections as part of the Model Intercomparison Project on the climatic response to Volcanic forcing (VolMIP). We identify and explain the consequences of significant disparities in the underlying physics and chemistry currently in some of the models, which are problems likely not unique to the models participating in this study.
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Short summary
Data and climate simulations were used to discuss the West African Little Ice Age (LIA). We show a clear opposition between a dry Sahel–savannah zone and a humid equatorial sector. In the Sahel region, the LIA was characterized by a gradual drying trend starting in 1250 CE after two early warning signals since 1170 CE. A tipping point was reached at 1800 CE. Drying events punctuated the LIA, the largest of which dated to ca. 1600 CE and was also recorded in the savannah zone.
Data and climate simulations were used to discuss the West African Little Ice Age (LIA). We show...
