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Modeling ocean heat content changes during the last millennium
Author(s) -
Crowley Thomas J.,
Baum Steven K.,
Kim KwangYul,
Hegerl Gabriele C.,
Hyde William T.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2003gl017801
Subject(s) - ocean heat content , proxy (statistics) , climatology , forcing (mathematics) , climate change , glacial period , geology , oceanography , environmental science , physical geography , sea surface temperature , geography , paleontology , mathematics , statistics
Observational studies show a significant increase in ocean heat content over the last half century. Herein we estimate heat content changes during the last millennium with a climate model whose forcing terms have been best‐fit to surface proxy data. The model simulates the observed late 20th century ocean heat content increase and a comparable Little Ice Age minimum. When glacial advances are factored in, these results imply a sea level fall after the Middle Ages that is consistent with some geologic data. The present ocean heat content increase can be traced back to the mid‐19th century, with a near‐linear rate of change during the 20th century.