Articles | Volume 19, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-747-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-747-2023
Research article
 | 
31 Mar 2023
Research article |  | 31 Mar 2023

On the climatic influence of CO2 forcing in the Pliocene

Lauren E. Burton, Alan M. Haywood, Julia C. Tindall, Aisling M. Dolan, Daniel J. Hill, Ayako Abe-Ouchi, Wing-Le Chan, Deepak Chandan, Ran Feng, Stephen J. Hunter, Xiangyu Li, W. Richard Peltier, Ning Tan, Christian Stepanek, and Zhongshi Zhang

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The role of atmospheric CO2 in controlling sea surface temperature change during the Pliocene
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Cited articles

Bartoli, G., Hönisch, B., and Zeebe, R. E.: Atmospheric CO2 decline during the Pliocene intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciations, Paleoceanography, 26, PA4213, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010PA002055, 2011. 
Bonan, D. B., Thompson, A. F., Newsom, E. R., Sun, S., and Rugenstein, M.: Transient and equilibrium responses to the Atlantic Overturning Circulation to warming in coupled climate models: The role of temperature and salinity, J. Climate, 35, 5173–5193, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-21-0912.1, 2022. 
Burke, K. D., Williams, J. W., Chandler, M. A., Haywood, A. M., Lunt, D. J., and Otto-Bliesner, B. L.: Pliocene and Eocene provide best analogs for near-future climates, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 115, 13288–13293, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1809600115, 2018. 
Chan, W.-L. and Abe-Ouchi, A.: Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP2) simulations using the Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate (MIROC4m), Clim. Past, 16, 1523–1545, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1523-2020, 2020. 
Chandan, D. and Peltier, W. R.: Regional and global climate for the mid-Pliocene using the University of Toronto version of CCSM4 and PlioMIP2 boundary conditions, Clim. Past, 13, 919–942, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-919-2017, 2017. 
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Short summary
Warm climates of the Pliocene (~ 3 million years ago) are similar to projections of the near future. We find elevated concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide to be the most important forcing for driving changes in Pliocene surface air temperature, sea surface temperature, and precipitation. However, changes caused by the nature of Pliocene ice sheets and orography are also important, affecting the extent to which we can use the Pliocene as an analogue for our warmer future.
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