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An assessment of the influence of land cover uncertainties on the simulation of global climate in the early Holocene

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Abstract

Six and 21 kyear BP represent the extreme states of climate since the last glacial maximum. The early Holocene, in contrast, was a time of transition, experiencing rapidly melting continental ice sheets, rising sea-level, and increasing summer insolation. Key features of the climate, illustrated by an NCAR CCM3 general circulation model experiment representing 11 kyr BP, include enhanced continentality and seasonality, and an enhanced northern monsoon. The principal circulation responses to the 11 kyr BP boundary conditions can be summarized as an intensification and northward shift of the mean meridional circulation and an intensification of the planetary wave structure of the Northern Hemisphere in northern summer, and a slight intensification of the mean meridional circulation coupled with a southward shift in the planetary wave structure in northern winter. These changes are manifest in the enhancement of the typical seasonal cycle of sea-level pressure in the Northern Hemisphere relative to that of the present day, and enhancement and equatorward shift of the Aleutian and Icelandic lows in northern winter. Over the period 15-8 kyr BP, within the current boreal forest zone, herbaceous tundra was replaced by shrub tundra, and subsequently by evergreen or deciduous forest, but there is uncertainty in the location, timing, and exact nature of these transitions. The specific location of the relatively small area of the Asian boreal forest-tundra transition can have an impact on regional climate, primarily in the net shortwave radiation component of the surface energy budget in spring, and in the cloudiness, net shortwave radiation, and turbulent heat fluxes in summer. These changes also have an impact on global climate. Our results suggest that the additional northern heating leads to a reduced equator-pole heat transport in the Northern Hemisphere which then influences heat and momentum transport in the Southern Hemisphere.

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Acknowledgements.

Acknowledgement is made to two anonymous reviewers, and to the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, for the computing time used in this research. This work was further supported by NSF through grants OPP0001476, OPP0001643 and ATM0001643.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, CB 216, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0216, USA

    A. H. Lynch

  2. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, CB 216, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0216, USA

    A. R. Rivers

  3. Department of Geography, 1251 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1251, USA

    P. J. Bartlein

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  1. A. H. Lynch
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Correspondence to A. H. Lynch.

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Lynch, A.H., Rivers, A.R. & Bartlein, P.J. An assessment of the influence of land cover uncertainties on the simulation of global climate in the early Holocene. Climate Dynamics 21, 243–256 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-003-0331-7

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