CCSM PaleoClimate Working Group Transient Mid-Holocene Simulation

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CCSM PaleoClimate Working Group Transient Mid-Holocene Simulation Caspar Ammann Bette Otto-Bliesner Esther Brady Carrie Morrill Fortunat Joos Raimond Mueschler Sam Levis Bob Tomas Noah Diffenbaugh Zhengyu Liu Matthew Huber Bruce Briegleb Goal Simulating mid-Holocene natural climate variability and potential abrupt climate change Model CCSM3, fully coupled T31x3 with dynamic vegetation Forcing Variable orbital, solar irradiance, ghg and explosive volcanoes

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CCSM PaleoClimate Working Group Transient Mid-Holocene Simulation. Caspar Ammann Bette Otto-Bliesner Esther Brady Carrie Morrill Fortunat Joos Raimond Mueschler Sam Levis Bob Tomas Noah Diffenbaugh Zhengyu Liu Matthew Huber Bruce Briegleb - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Transcript of CCSM PaleoClimate Working Group Transient Mid-Holocene Simulation

CCSM PaleoClimate Working Group Transient Mid-Holocene Simulation

Caspar Ammann Bette Otto-Bliesner Esther Brady Carrie Morrill Fortunat Joos Raimond Mueschler Sam Levis Bob Tomas Noah Diffenbaugh Zhengyu Liu Matthew Huber Bruce Briegleb

Goal Simulating mid-Holocene natural climate variability and potential abrupt climate change

Model CCSM3, fully coupled T31x3 with dynamic vegetation

Forcing Variable orbital, solar irradiance, ghg and explosive volcanoes

Initialization Fixed forcing 6000 BP spinup with dynamic vegetation (300 yr)

Years 65-84 (~ 5920 BP)

Compared to Pre-Industrial

+4.5 Wm-2-2 North Pole -1.0 Wm-2 Equator

Years 1580-1599 (~ 4410 BP)

Compared to Pre-Industrial

+3.6 Wm-2 North Pole -0.8 Wm-2 Equator

Transient Mid-Holocene Temperature Trends

Global Mean Surface Temperature

Ocean Mean Temperature

6000 BP 4350 BP

Years 65-84 (~5920 BP) Years 1580-1599 (~4410 BP) JJA Ts Difference with PI

JJA Precipitation Difference with PI

North African Grasses and Boreal Forests have small downward trends in percent concentrations

North African Monsoon, 10 to 30 latitude Boreal, 50 to 90 latitude

6000 BP 4200 BP 6000 BP 4200 BP

JAS years 950-1050 (~5000 BP) minus 150-250 (~5800 BP) Precip (color, 0.2 mm/day) SLP (contours, 0.2 mb) 1000 mb Wind (vectors, 1 m/sec reference)

mm / day

300 600 900 1200 1500 Years 5900 BP 4400 BP

Pre-Industrial Dynamic Vegetation

TransientMid-Holocene

6000 BP Present

Transient Mid-Holocene Simulation

Preliminary Results after 1650 years Global cooling -0.38 C Stabilization of ocean temperature Southward shift in African-Asian monsoons Some southward shift in boreal forests and North African grasses

Current Plan Run forward to present day At ~10 yrs / day, might finish late summer 2007

Encourage Analysis Some interesting features noticed already Will any abrupt changes occur? Stay tuned Selected data analysis available online at: http://www.ccsm.ucar.edu/working_groups/Paleo/experiments/b30.108.html

Data available on NCAR Mass Store /CCSM/paleo/b30.108

Transient Holocene Simulation

Players Carrie Morrill, Caspar Ammann, Bette Otto-Bliesner,

Fortunat Joos, Raimond Mueschler, Sam Levis, Bob Tomas,

Noah Diffenbaugh, Zhengyu Liu, Matthew Huber, Bruce Briegleb

Vision Many paleoclimate proxy records show abrupt shifts in the mid-Holocene. The

Transient Holocene simulation allows us to address: (1) Are there any abrupt changes simulated by CCSM3 (either regional,

hemispheric or global)?

(2) If yes, how are these transitions similar/different from those observed

in paleoclimate records (i.e. location, speed, direction of climate change)?

(3) If no, what are the limitations of the model and its forcings? What else

might need to be changed for abrupt changes to occur?

Model CCSM3, T31 x 3

Includes dynamic vegetation

Initialized from 6 kyr ago spinup with dynamic vegetation, 300 years long

Transient Holocene Simulation (cont)

Forcings Orbital: Parameters updated every four years.

Solar: Solar constant from fit to solar modulation estimated

from 14C/10Be ice core data, using satellite observations at

end of record. Peak to peak range 0.12% of mean;

minimal trends.

GHG: CO2, CH4 and N2O using smooth fits to ice core data.

Volcanic: Statistical occurance from 4050 BC to 850 AD, historical after

850 AD. Maximum monthly tropical volcanic mass equals

Tambora 1815; maximum extratropical equals Laki 1783.

History Files

Monthly means: cam, pop, clm, csim.

Daily means: T,u,v @ 850, 300 hPa, sea level pressure;

surface temperature and precipitation.

Transient Holocene Simulation (cont)

Current Status Out 800+ years (i.e. from 4050 BC to 3250 BC) Progressing approximately 10 years / day

Preliminary Results Noticeable short term impact of volcanoes. Slight global cooling trend (-0.1 to -0.2 C) Southward shift in subtropical Monsoon and vegetation associated with regional cooling, presumably due to changes in orbital forcing. Noticeable modulation of C3 grasses in African Monsoon, presumably due to drought cycles. Southward shift in boreal forests, also presumably due to changes in orbital forcing.

Years 680-699

Years 65-84

Orbital forcing has small changes over several hundred years

Greenhouse gases have small andvery smooth changes

Summary of Forcings

Orbital ~ 0.5 W m-2 / century mid to high latitudes; long term secular trend

Solar ~ 0.29 W m-2 peak-to-peak over ~2 centuries; no secular trend

GHG

~ +0.0067 W m-2 / century CO2, 4050 BC to ~1000 AD

~ +0.0016 W m-2 / century CH4, 4050 BC to ~ 1500 AD

~ +0.0006 W m-2 / century N2O, 4050 BC to ~ 1000 BC

Volcanic 0 down to -10 W m-2, but short lived (a few years). Estimated long term (i.e. several hundred years) mean forcing ~ -0.3 W m-2

Top of model fluxesshow volcanic forcings

Global surfacetemperature showssmall cooling trend

High northern latitudesnow depth shows slight upward trend

Years 65-84 Years 680-699

JJA Solar Insolation

JJA Ts

Years 65-84 Years 680-699 JJA Ts

JJA Precipitation

African Grasses and Boreal Forests have small downward trends in concentrations

African Monsoon, 10 to 30 latitude Boreal, 50 to 90 latitude

Transient Holocene Simulation

Preliminary Results Noticeable short term impact of volcanoes.

Slight global cooling trend (-0.1 to -0.2 C)

Southward shift in subtropical Monsoon and vegetation

associated with regional cooling, presumably due to

changes in orbital forcing.

Noticeable modulation of C3 grasses in African Monsoon,

presumably due to drought cycles.

Southward shift in boreal forests, also presumably due to

changes in orbital forcing.

Transient Holocene Simulation

Current Plan Run out 2400 years, or from 4050 BC to 1650 BC At approximately 10 years / day, should finish August 2006

Encourage Analysis Some interesting features noticed already Will any abrupt changes occur? Stay tuned Selected data analysis available online at: http://www.ccsm.ucar.edu/working_groups/Paleo/experiments/b30.108.html

and updated every few days Data available on NCAR Mass Store /CCSM/paleo/b30.108 Monthly and selected daily data available

Future? Forcing files continuous up to 2000 AD