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Cited by 624Geology and Paleoclimatology ResearchClimate variability and modelsClimate Change and Environmental Impact

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 60 of the 61 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Pliocene and Eocene provide best analogs for near-future climates

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Burke, K. D., Williams, J. W., Chandler, M. A., Haywood, A. M., Lunt, D. J., Otto-Bliesner, B. L.·2018·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI 10.1073/pnas.1809600115PMC PMC6310841
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Abstract

As the world warms due to rising greenhouse gas concentrations, the Earth system moves toward climate states without societal precedent, challenging adaptation. Past Earth system states offer possible model systems for the warming world of the coming decades. These include the climate states of the Early Eocene (ca. 50 Ma), the Mid-Pliocene (3.3-3.0 Ma), the Last Interglacial (129-116 ka), the Mid-Holocene (6 ka), preindustrial (ca. 1850 CE), and the 20th century. Here, we quantitatively assess the similarity of future projected climate states to these six geohistorical benchmarks using simulations from the Hadley Centre Coupled Model Version 3 (HadCM3), the Goddard Institute for Space Studies Model E2-R (GISS), and the Community Climate System Model, Versions 3 and 4 (CCSM) Earth system models. Under the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5) emission scenario, by 2030 CE, future climates most closely resemble Mid-Pliocene climates, and by 2150 CE, they most closely resemble Eocene climates. Under RCP4.5, climate stabilizes at Pliocene-like conditions by 2040 CE. Pliocene-like and Eocene-like climates emerge first in continental interiors and then expand outward. Geologically novel climates are uncommon in RCP4.5 (<1%) but reach 8.7% of the globe under RCP8.5, characterized by high temperatures and precipitation. Hence, RCP4.5 is roughly equivalent to stabilizing at Pliocene-like climates, while unmitigated emission trajectories, such as RCP8.5, are similar to reversing millions of years of long-term cooling on the scale of a few human generations. Both the emergence of geologically novel climates and the rapid reversion to Eocene-like climates may be outside the range of evolutionary adaptive capacity.

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. ; IPCC Working Group I Contribution to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2013, eds TF Stocker, (Cambridge Univ Press, Cambridge, UK), pp. 1031, 1054–1055 (2013).
  2. JW Williams, KD Burke, Past abrupt changes in climate and terrestrial ecosystems. Biodiversity and Climate Change: Transforming the Biosphere, eds TE Lovejoy, L Hannah (Yale Univ Press, New Haven, CT), pp. 128–141 (2019).

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Metadata

Authors
Burke, K. D., Williams, J. W., Chandler, M. A., Haywood, A. M., Lunt, D. J., & Otto-Bliesner, B. L.
Affiliations
  • University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
  • Goddard Institute for Space Studies (US)
  • University of Leeds (GB)
  • University of Bristol (GB)
  • Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80305
Corresponding author
Burke, K. D.
ORCID
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Published
2018-12-10
Volume
115
Issue
52
Pages
13288-13293
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.1809600115
PMC
PMC6310841
OpenAlex
W2904881360
Cited by
624
References
61
Citations by year
2026: 62 · 2025: 83 · 2024: 115 · 2023: 114 · 2022: 92 · 2021: 79 · 2020: 56 · 2019: 22
FWCI
19.12
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.pnas.org/site/aboutpnas/licenses.xhtml (vor, 182 d)
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
  • Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
  • Explore Bristol Research (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • NASA STI Repository (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Science Foundation (1144752, DEB-1353896)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate variability and models
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate Change and Environmental Impact
Keywords
Pliocene climate, Eocene climate, climate analogs, climate change projections, RCP8.5, RCP4.5, mid-Pliocene, Last Interglacial, mid-Holocene, climate change adaptation, Earth system models
MeSH terms
Climate, Models, Theoretical, Paleontology, Temperature, Ecosystem

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