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Glacial cycles and carbon dioxide: A conceptual model
Author(s) -
Hogg Andrew McC.
Publication year - 2008
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 - 10.1029/2007gl032071
Subject(s) - glacial period , interglacial , carbon cycle , environmental science , carbon dioxide in earth's atmosphere , carbon dioxide , climatology , climate change , quaternary , atmospheric sciences , global warming , geology , oceanography , chemistry , paleontology , ecology , ecosystem , organic chemistry , biology
The correlation between Antarctic temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is a key feature of Quaternary climate cycles. The cycle is characterised by pronounced temporal asymmetry; with rapid increase in both temperature and CO 2 at the glacial termination. Here I compare observed climate cycles with results from a simple model which predicts the evolution of global temperature and carbon dioxide over the glacial‐interglacial cycle. The model includes a term which parameterises deep ocean release of CO 2 in response to warming, and thereby amplifies the glacial cycle. In this model, temperature rises lead CO 2 increases at the glacial termination, but it is the feedback between these two quantities that drives the abrupt warming during the transition from glacial to interglacial periods.