Revisiting Mid-Holocene Temperature over China Using PMIP3 Simulations

Abstract

Using the simulations performed by 15 cli- mate models under the latest protocol of the Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project (PMIP) Phase 3 (PMIP3), the authors revisited the annual and seasonal temperature changes over China during the mid-Holocene. Similar to the previous results produced by PMIP Phase 1 (PMIP1) and 2 (PMIP2) models, 14 (15) of the 15 PMIP3 models reproduced colder annual (boreal winter and spring) temperature in response to mid-Holocene insola- tion changes, with an average cooling of 0.33 K (1.31 K and 1.58 K) over China. The mid-Holocene boreal sum- mer (autumn) temperature increased in all (13) of the 15 PMIP3 models, with an average warming of 1.02 K (0.61 K) at the national scale. Those changes simulated by the PMIP3 models were similar to those from the PMIP2 simulations but generally weaker than those from the PMIP1 models. A considerable mismatch still existed between the simulated cooling by the PMIP3 models and the reconstructed warming for annual and winter tem- peratures over China during the mid-Holocene, as was also the case between the previous PMIP1/2 simulations and proxy data.