PMIP3 WG - Past2K

Contact: Johann Jungclaus

Group description

The last millennium is the best-documented period of climate change in a multi-century time frame. Climate has varied considerably during the late Holocene and these changes left their traces in history (Medieval Climate Optimum, Little Ice Age). However, the relative magnitude of natural fluctuations due to internal variability of the Earth’s climate system and to variations in the external forcings (sun, orbital, volcanic) and the present global warming, attributed to anthropogenic greenhouse gases, is still under debate. Since reconstructions of the past climate beyond the instrumental record have to rely on relatively sparse data sources, numerical model simulations are useful tools to investigate the underlying causes of climate change. Model simulated climate data can be used to validate reconstruction methods.

In the third phase of PMIP and the fifth phase of CMIP, simulations of the pre-industrial millennium (“past1000”, 850-1850 CE) have been officialy included and roughly a dozen modelling groups have conducted the experiments under a common experimental design. In contrast to earlier PMIP efforts, the new simulations were carried out with the same model at the same resolution and data are distributed through the CMIP5 data base network (ESG).

The WG aims at coordinating research activities using the past1000 and earlier millennium simulations, providing links to the reconstruction community, in particular to the PAGES2K network and to define new strategies both for upcoming analyses and the next generation of simulations.

Activities: see meetings

Historical footnote: group initiated at the Crewe 2012 meeting.

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