Thermohaline Circulation Determines the Multi-centennial Variability of Earth's Climate System

Abstract

Long-term proxy data have shown that there is significant multi-centennial variability in Earth's climate system. However, the causes and mechanisms of this variability are still a major scientific problem for climate scientists and archaeologists. From the middle of the Holocene until the Industrial Revolution, there was little change in the Earth's external forcing, so it is important to study the long-term natural oscillations of our climate system during this period. In our research, we designed a series of experiments using CESM1.0 to explore the sources of multi-centennial variability of climate system. In some experiments, the thermohaline circulation was turned off to see if its presence would affect the oscillation of climate system. We finally conclude that thermohaline circulation is likely to determine the multi-centennial variability of Earth's climate system.