Transient Climate Evolution of the last 21,000 years (TraCE-21): Understanding Deglacial Climate Changes using CCSM

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This general goal of the project is to complete a set of synchronously coupled general circulation model (GCM) simulations of transient climate evolution of the last 21,000 years using the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Climate System Model (CCSM). The researchers have two primary science aims. First, they propose to explore the forcing mechanisms of the climate change over the past 21,000 years with particular emphasis on abrupt events during the last deglaciation. Second, they propose to test the fidelity of the CCSM and proxy records against each other for transient climate responses and abrupt climate events. The project has two guiding science questions: 1) How does the climate system respond to transient climate forcings, and what is the contribution from individual forcing functions such as insolation, atmospheric greenhouse gases, continental ice sheets and meltwater? and 2) What are the mechanisms of the abrupt changes in the Atlantic thermohaline-climate system and the tropical monsoon-ecosystem?The primary broader impacts involve providing the wider science community with a potentially new perspective on climate reconstructions and providing a strong professional and educational expereince for a post doctoral scholar and a graduate student.