Abstract
Small reductions of tropical sea surface temperatures during ice ages are associated with substantial reductions in latent heat release and in the temperature of the upper tropical troposphere. Numerical simulations confirm that this reduced the mean baroclinicity during ice age winters and presumably the atmospheric heat transport from low to high latitudes. The computed wind driven ocean circulation was also weaker. Local heat balance considerations suggest that ice age cloud cover over the tropical oceans was more extensive inl spite of reduced evaporation and precipitation. The same deduction is suggested by analytical arguments about atmospheric convection.
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KRAUS, E. Comparison Between Ice Age and Present General Circulations. Nature 245, 129–133 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/245129a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/245129a0
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