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The effect of sea level on glacial Indo-Pacific climate

Nature Geoscience volume 6, pages 485–491 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

The Indo-Pacific warm pool—the main source of heat and moisture to the global atmosphere—plays a prominent role in tropical and global climate variability. During the Last Glacial Maximum, temperatures within the warm pool were cooler than today and precipitation patterns were altered, but the mechanism responsible for these shifts remains unclear. Here we use a synthesis of proxy reconstructions of warm pool hydrology and a multi-model ensemble of climate simulations to assess the drivers of these changes. The proxy data suggest drier conditions throughout the centre of the warm pool and wetter conditions in the western Indian and Pacific oceans. Only one model out of twelve simulates a pattern of hydroclimate change similar to our reconstructions, as measured by the Cohen’s κ statistic. Exposure of the Sunda Shelf by lower glacial sea level plays a key role in the hydrologic pattern simulated by this model, which results from changes in the Walker circulation driven by weakened convection over the warm pool. We therefore conclude that on glacial–interglacial timescales, the growth and decay of ice sheets exert a first-order influence on tropical climate through the associated changes in global sea level.

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Figure 1: Present-day hydroclimate of the IPWP.
Figure 2: Proxy-model synthesis of LGM rainfall changes.
Figure 3: Proxy-model synthesis of LGM SSS changes.
Figure 4: Simulated LGM changes in the Indo-Pacific Walker circulation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Clement and A. Timmermann for their comments. We gratefully acknowledge the climate modelling groups participating in PMIP2 and CMIP5/PMIP3 for producing and making their model output available, and the PMIP2/MOTIF Data Archive (supported by CEA, CNRS, the EU project MOTIF and PNEDC) and PCMDI (supported by the US Department of Energy) for distributing the data. Funding for this work was provided by NSF (grant AGS 1204011), the University of Hawaii and by the International Pacific Research Center (sponsored by JAMSTEC, NASA and NOAA). This is publication no. 8,937 for the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (Univ. Hawai’i at Mānoa) and no. 984 for the International Pacific Research Center (Univ. Hawai’i at Mānoa).

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Author notes

  1. Pedro N. DiNezio and Jessica E. Tierney: The authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii, 1680 East West Road, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA

    Pedro N. DiNezio

  2. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA

    Jessica E. Tierney

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  1. Pedro N. DiNezio
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  2. Jessica E. Tierney
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Contributions

P.N.D. and J.E.T. contributed equally to the synthesis of the proxy and model data and the writing of this manuscript.

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Correspondence to Pedro N. DiNezio.

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DiNezio, P., Tierney, J. The effect of sea level on glacial Indo-Pacific climate. Nature Geosci 6, 485–491 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1823

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