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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Quantifying the effect of vegetation dynamics on the climate of the last glacial maximum
    (München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2005) Jahn, A.; Claussen, M.; Ganopolski, A.; Brovkin, V.
    The importance of the biogeophysical atmosphere-vegetation feedback in comparison with the radiative effect of lower atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the presence of ice sheets at the last glacial maximum (LGM) is investigated with the climate system model CLIMBER-2. Equilibrium experiments reveal that most of the global cooling at the LGM (-5.1°C) relative to (natural) present-day conditions is caused by the introduction of ice sheets into the model (-3.0°C), followed by the effect of lower atmospheric CO2 levels at the LGM (-1.5°C), while a synergy between these two factors appears to be very small on global average. The biogeophysical effects of changes in vegetation cover are found to cool the global LGM climate by 0.6°C. The latter are most pronounced in the northern high latitudes, where the taiga-tundra feedback causes annually averaged temperature changes of up to -2.0°C, while the radiative effect of lower atmospheric CO2 in this region only produces a cooling of 1.5°C. Hence, in this region, the temperature changes caused by vegetation dynamics at the LGM exceed the cooling due to lower atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
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    Glacial CO 2 cycle as a succession of key physical and biogeochemical processes
    (München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2012) Brovkin, V.; Ganopolski, A.; Archer, D.; Munhoven, G.
    During glacial-interglacial cycles, atmospheric CO2 concentration varied by about 100 ppmv in amplitude. While testing mechanisms that have led to the low glacial CO2 level could be done in equilibrium model experiments, an ultimate goal is to explain CO2 changes in transient simulations through the complete glacial-interglacial cycle. The computationally efficient Earth System model of intermediate complexity CLIMBER-2 is used to simulate global biogeochemistry over the last glacial cycle (126 kyr). The physical core of the model (atmosphere, ocean, land and ice sheets) is driven by orbital changes and reconstructed radiative forcing from greenhouses gases, ice, and aeolian dust. The carbon cycle model is able to reproduce the main features of the CO2 changes: a 50 ppmv CO2 drop during glacial inception, a minimum concentration at the last glacial maximum 80 ppmv lower than the Holocene value, and an abrupt 60 ppmv CO2 rise during the deglaciation. The model deep ocean δ13C also resembles reconstructions from deep-sea cores. The main drivers of atmospheric CO2 evolve in time: changes in sea surface temperatures and in the volume of bottom water of southern origin control atmospheric CO2 during the glacial inception and deglaciation; changes in carbonate chemistry and marine biology are dominant during the first and second parts of the glacial cycle, respectively. These feedback mechanisms could also significantly impact the ultimate climate response to the anthropogenic perturbation.
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    Interglacials of the last 800,000 years
    (Hoboken, NJ : Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2016) Berger, B.; Crucifix, M.; Hodell, D.A.; Mangili, C.; McManus, J.F.; Otto-Bliesner, B.; Pol, K.; Raynaud, D.; Skinner, L.C.; Tzedakis, P.C.; Wolff, E.W.; Yin, Q.Z.; Abe-Ouchi, A.; Barbante, C.; Brovkin, V.; Cacho, I.; Capron, E.; Ferretti, P.; Ganopolski, A.; Grimalt, J.O.; Hönisch, B.; Kawamura, K.A.; Landais, A.; Margari, V.; Martrat, B.; Masson-Delmotte, V.; Mokeddem, Z.; Parrenin, F.; Prokopenko, A.A.; Rashid, H.; Schulz, M.; Vazquez Riveiros, N.