| The climate of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11, the interglacial roughly 400,000 years ago, is investigated for four time slices, 416, 410, 400, and 396 ka. We compare results from two climate models, the earth system model of intermediate complexity CLIMBER2-LPJ and the general circulation model CCSM3, to reconstructions of MIS 11 temperature, precipitation and vegetation, mainly from terrestrial records. The overall picture is that MIS 11 was a relatively warm interglacial in comparison to preindustrial, with Northern Hemisphere (NH) summer temperatures early in MIS 11 (416-410 ka) warmer than preindustrial, though winters were cooler. Later in MIS 11, especially around 400 ka, conditions were cooler in the NH summer, mainly in the high latitudes. Climate... |
