Routes to global glaciation
Name
manuscript.pdf
Description
Accepted version
Size
2.27 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
31e2748ef493ba8e5e15f972e062e933
Author(s)
Arnscheidt, Constantin W.
Rothman, Daniel H.
Date Issued
July 2020
Journal
Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
Publisher
The Royal Society
Citation
Arnscheidt, Constantin W. and Daniel H. Rothman. "Routes to global glaciation." Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 476, 2239 (July 2020): dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2020.0303. © 2020 The Author(s)
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Theory and observation suggest that Earth and Earth-like planets can undergo runaway low-latitude glaciation when changes in solar heating or in the carbon cycle exceed a critical threshold. Here, we use a simple dynamical-system representation of the ice-albedo feedback and the carbonate-silicate cycle to show that glaciation is also triggered when solar heating changes faster than a critical rate. Such 'rate-induced glaciations' remain accessible far from the outer edge of the habitable zone, because the warm climate state retains long-term stability. In contrast, glaciations induced by changes in the carbon cycle require the warm climate state to become unstable, constraining the kinds of perturbations that could have caused global glaciation in Earth's past. We show that glaciations can occur when Earth's climate transitions between two warm stable states; this property of the Earth system could help explain why major events in the development of life have been accompanied by glaciations.
MIT Department
Lorenz Center (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2020.0303
