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Vegetation dynamics amplifies precessional forcing
Author(s) -
Claussen Martin,
Fohlmeister Jens,
Ganopolski Andrey,
Brovkin Victor
Publication year - 2006
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 - 10.1029/2006gl026111
Subject(s) - forcing (mathematics) , atmosphere (unit) , climatology , precession , albedo (alchemy) , climate model , geology , vegetation (pathology) , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , latitude , climate change , meteorology , physics , oceanography , geodesy , astronomy , medicine , pathology , art , performance art , art history
The astronomical theory of climate variations predicts that the climatic precession which changes the seasonal distance between Earth and Sun does not affect the annual mean irradiation at any given latitude. However, previous modeling studies suggest that during interglacials, the interaction between atmosphere, vegetation and ocean can transform the seasonal forcing by precession into an annual mean global signal. Here, we show that this result can be generalized. A distinct precessional signal emerges in a climate system model over many precessional cycles. While neither the atmosphere‐ocean nor the atmosphere‐vegetation model are able to produce a large amplitude of global temperature in the precessional band, only the mutual amplification of biogeophysical feedback and sea ice‐ albedo feedback allows a strong amplification of the precessional signal.