Model simulations of carbon isotope changes as a result of a reduction in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) agree well with sediment data from the early last deglaciation, supporting the idea that the AMOC was substantially reduced during that time period of global warming. We hypothesize, and present supporting evidence, that changes in the AMOC may have caused the coeval rise in atmospheric CO2, owing to a reduction in the efficiency of the ocean's biological pump.

The role of vegetation-precipitation feedbacks in modifying the North African rainfall response to enhanced early to mid-Holocene summer insolation is analysed using the climate-vegetation model CCSM3-DGVM. Dynamic vegetation amplifies the positive early to mid-Holocene summer precipitation anomaly by ca. 20% in the Sahara-Sahel region. The primary vegetation feedback operates through surface latent heat flux anomalies by canopy evapotranspiration and their effect on the African easterly jet.

We use model simulations to investigate mechanisms of similar Iceland--Scotland overflow (outflow from the Nordic seas) and North Atlantic sea surface temperature variability, suggested from palaeo-reconstructions (Mjell et al., 2015). Our results indicate the influence of Nordic Seas surface temperature on the pressure gradient across the Iceland--Scotland ridge, not a large-scale link through the meridional overturning circulation, is responsible for the (simulated) co-variability.

A 180.17-m ice core was drilled at Aurora Peak in the central part of the Alaska Range, Alaska, in 2008. The ice core age was determined by annual counts of δD and seasonal cycles of Na+. Here, we show that the chronology of the Aurora Peak ice core from 95.61 m to the top corresponds to the period from 1900 to the summer season of 2008, with a dating error of ±3 years. Our results suggest that temporal variations in δD and annual accumulation rates are strongly related to shifts in PDO Index.

Our results show that state-of-the-art climate model simulations are able to capture historically recorded Asian monsoon failures during the past millennium at the right time and with a comparable spatial distribution. During the Little Ice Age, both model and proxy reconstructions point to fewer monsoon failures. The results suggest an influential impact of volcanic eruptions on the atmosphere-ocean interactions throughout the past millennium.

High-resolution analyses of paleoecological and geochemical proxies give insight into environmental processes and climate variations in the past on a timescale that is relevant for humans. This study, as the first of its kind, aims to resolve cyclic variations of nannofossil assemblages on a decadal to centennial scale in a highly sensitive Early Miocene (~17Ma) shallow marine setting. Our results indicate that solar variation played a major role in shaping short-term climate variability.

This study demonstrates that the intensity of the East Asian summer and winter monsoon is the primary driver of variations of summer and winter precipitation isotopes in central Japan. Japan lies in the northeast limits of the East Asian monsoon region. Understanding the past monsoon changes in Japan is important for determining whether the isotopic variability recorded in Chinese stalagmite reflects the East Asian summer monsoon intensity or rainfall variability in the Indian summer monsoon.