Articles | Volume 14, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1515-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1515-2018
Research article
 | 
22 Oct 2018
Research article |  | 22 Oct 2018

Reduced carbon cycle resilience across the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum

David I. Armstrong McKay and Timothy M. Lenton

Download

Interactive discussion

Status: closed
Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
Printer-friendly Version - Printer-friendly version Supplement - Supplement

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision
ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (22 Aug 2018) by Yannick Donnadieu
AR by David Armstrong McKay on behalf of the Authors (14 Sep 2018)  Author's response    Manuscript
ED: Publish as is (02 Oct 2018) by Yannick Donnadieu
Download
Short summary
This study uses statistical analyses to look for signs of declining resilience (i.e. greater sensitivity to small shocks) in the global carbon cycle and climate system across the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a global warming event 56 Myr ago driven by rapid carbon release. Our main finding is that carbon cycle resilience declined in the 1.5 Myr beforehand (a time of significant volcanic emissions), which is consistent with but not proof of a carbon release tipping point at the PETM.