COUPLED OCEAN-ATMOSPHERE MODELLING OF THE CLIMATE AT THE LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM

Coupled ocean-atmosphere-sea ice general circulation models (OAGCMs) are the state-of-the-art models for projecting future climate. Such models are now being used to simulate the climate of the last glacial maximum (LGM) in order to increase our understanding of climate change, and to test and evaluate the models by comparison with palaeoenvironmental data sets.

I will describe one such OAGCM simulation in some detail, using the HadCM3 OAGCM developed at the Met Office's Hadley Centre. I will also describe the current state of coupled modelling of the LGM by describing other recent coupled model LGM experiments, making some intercomparisons of the different model results.

Such an intercomparison will also be of use for planning the second phase of the Palaeoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project (PMIP), which plans to examine how coupled OAGCMs perform when forced with the same boundary conditions.