What maintained the cold climate during the Last Glacial Maximum?: A brief recap

Abstract

In the atmospheric GCM with specified SST or coupled to mixed layer ocean model, the presence of ice sheet plays the most important role, whereas in the coupled model the reduction of atmospheric CO2 concentration accounts for about 60% of total LGM climate change, especially for the surface cooling. This feedback is associated with the change in the overturning circulation, and the ocean meridional heat transport. The rest of LGM climate change is largely accounted for by the ice sheet topography and its associated land albedo change. Whereas the ice sheet topography results in a large modification in the surface temperature pattern over land, the reduced CO2 concentraion apperas to play an important role in shaping the spatial distribution and the magnitude of surface temperature over ocean through a larger ocean dynamic feedback.