Earth’s radiative imbalance from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present Article Swipe

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Deglaciation Ice sheet Ice-albedo feedback Earth's energy budget Climatology Radiative transfer Cryosphere Energy budget Environmental science Atmospheric sciences Atmosphere (unit) Radiative cooling Earth system science Last Glacial Maximum Glacial period Geology Sea ice Oceanography Ice stream Geography Meteorology Physics Radiation Thermodynamics Quantum mechanics Geomorphology

Daniel Baggenstos , Marcel Häberli , J. H. M. M. Schmitt , Sarah Shackleton , Benjamin Birner , Jeffrey P. Severinghaus , Thomas Kellerhals , Hubertus Fischer ·

YOU? · · 2019 · Open Access · · DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1905447116 · OA: W2961161646

Significance Earth’s radiative imbalance determines whether energy is flowing into or out of the ocean–atmosphere system. The present, anthropogenic, positive imbalance drives global warming. This study reconstructs the radiative imbalance for the last deglaciation, ∼20,000 to 10,000 y ago. During the deglaciation, a positive imbalance was maintained for several thousand years, which brought the climate system from the last ice age into the Holocene warm period. We show that the imbalance varied significantly during this time, possibly due to changes in ocean circulation that affect the radiative energy fluxes, highlighting the importance of internal variability in Earth’s energy budget.