Revised PRISM3 Pliocene Sea Surface Temperature Estimates

Model experiments that attempt to simulate climates of the past serve to identify both similarities and differences between two climate states and, when compared with simulations run by other models and with geological data, to identify model-specific biases. Uncertainties associated with both the data and the models must be considered in such an exercise. The most recent period of sustained global warmth similar to what is projected for the near future occurred about 3.3-3.0 million years ago, during the Pliocene epoch. Here, we present Pliocene sea surface temperature data, newly characterized in terms of level of confidence.

旨在模拟古气候的数值模型实验，既可用于甄别两种气候状态间的异同；若与其他气候模型的模拟结果及地质数据进行比对，还可识别模型独有的偏差。开展此类研究时，必须同时考量数据与模型自身所伴随的不确定性。与当前全球变暖趋势及未来近期预估气候最为相似的持续暖期，出现于约330万至300万年前的上新世（Pliocene epoch）。本研究公开了经置信水平完成全新表征的上新世海表温度（sea surface temperature）数据集。