The records of atmospheric CO2 and of NH surface temperature
covering the past millennium hold information on the strength of the
sensitivity of the global carbon cycle to climate changes. This sensitivity is
defined as the change in atmospheric CO2 in response to a given
change in NH temperature in units of ppm K-1. The magnitude of the
sensitivity is estimated for modest (< 1 K) temperature variations from
simulations with the Bern Carbon Cycle Climate model driven with solar and
volcanic forcing over the last millennium and from simulations with the range
of C4MIP models over the industrial periods. The model results are broadly
compatible with the data-deduced range.
Author: F. Joos, S. Gerber, S.A. Müller, R. Muscheler (joos at climate dot unibe dot ch)
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