Past terrestrial hydroclimate driven by Earth System Feedbacks

Source abstract

Geologic evidence suggests drastic reorganizations of subtropical terrestrial hydroclimate during past warm intervals, including the mid-Piacenzian Warm Period (MP, 3.3 to 3.0 Ma). Despite having a similar to present-day atmospheric CO2 level (pCO2), MP featured moist subtropical conditions with high lake levels in Northern Africa, and mesic vegetation and sedimentary facies in subtropical Eurasia. Here, we demonstrate that major loss of the northern high-latitude ice sheets and continental greening, not the pCO2 forcing, are key to generating moist terrestrial conditions in subtropical Sahel and east Asia. In contrast to previous hypotheses, the moist conditions simulated in both regions are a product of enhanced tropospheric humidity and a stationary wave response to the surface warming pattern, both varying strongly in response to land cover changes. These results suggest that past terrestrial hydroclimate states were driven by Earth System Feedbacks, which may outweigh the direct effect of pCO2 forcing.