Non-linear climatic response to the weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation during glacial times

Du, Yanxuan; Brown, Josephine R.; Menviel, Laurie; Saini, Himadri; Drysdale, Russell N.; Hutchinson, David K.; Gould-Whaley, Calla N.

doi:10.5194/cp-22-1105-2026

Articles | Volume 22, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-1105-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-1105-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 22, issue 6

Research article

|

05 Jun 2026

Research article |

| 05 Jun 2026

Non-linear climatic response to the weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation during glacial times

Yanxuan Du, Josephine R. Brown, Laurie Menviel, Himadri Saini, Russell N. Drysdale, David K. Hutchinson, and Calla N. Gould-Whaley

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-1105-2026-supplement

Data sets

Data from: Non-linear climatic response to the weakening of the Atlantic Meridional overturning circulation during glacial times Y. Du et al. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tht76hff1

Short summary

This study examines the climate response to different magnitudes of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) weakening under glacial conditions using the Australian Earth System Model. A potential threshold is identified between linear AMOC slowdown and nonlinear shutdown, driven by a critical change in ocean heat loss that induces a nonlinear atmospheric response governed by energetic constraints.