Climate of the Past
www.clim-past.net
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2
2
2006
10.5194/cp-2-205-2006
http://www.clim-past.net/2/205/2006/
http://www.clim-past.net/2/205/2006/cp-2-205-2006.html
http://www.clim-past.net/2/205/2006/cp-2-205-2006.pdf
205
220
2006-11-22
Dynamics of the terrestrial biosphere, climate and atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> concentration during interglacials: a comparison between Eemian and Holocene
G. Schurgers
guy.schurgers@nateko.lu.se
U. Mikolajewicz
M. Gröger
E. Maier-Reimer
M. Vizcaíno
A. Winguth
Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Bundesstrasse 53, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
Center for Climatic Research, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin, USA
present affiliation: Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Analysis, Lund University, Sweden
present affiliation: Department of Geography and Center for Atmospheric Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, USA
A complex earth system model (atmosphere and ocean general circulation models,
ocean biogeochemistry and terrestrial biosphere) was used to perform transient
simulations of two interglacial sections (Eemian, 128–113 ky B.P., and Holocene, 9 ky B.P.–present).
The changes in terrestrial carbon storage during these interglacials were studied with respect to changes in the earth's orbit.
The effects of different climate factors on changes in carbon storage were studied
in offline experiments in which the vegetation model was forced only with temperature,
hydrological parameters, radiation, or CO<sub>2</sub>
concentration from the transient runs.
<br><br>
The largest anomalies in terrestrial carbon storage were caused by temperature
changes. However, the increase in storage due to forest expansion and increased
photosynthesis in the high latitudes was nearly balanced by the decrease due
to increased respiration.
Large positive effects on carbon storage were caused by an enhanced monsoon
circulation in the subtropics between 128 and 121 ky B.P. and between 9 and 6 ky B.P.,
and by increases in incoming radiation during summer for
45° to 70° N compared to a control simulation with
present-day insolation.
<br><br>
Compared to this control simulation, the net effect of these changes was a
positive carbon storage anomaly in the terrestrial biosphere of about 200 Pg C for 125 ky B.P. and 7 ky B.P.,
and a negative anomaly around 150 Pg C for 116 ky B.P.
Although the net increases for Eemian and Holocene were rather similar,
the magnitudes of the processes causing these effects were different.
The decrease in terrestrial carbon storage during the experiments was the
main driver of an increase in atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> concentration during
both the Eemian and the Holocene.
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