The Impacts of an AMOC Slowdown on Southern Hemisphere and Australian Climates at 8.2 ka in ACCESS-ESM1.5 Model

Abstract

Greenland ice cores reveal an abrupt cooling of up to 3.3°C 8.2 kyr ago (8.2 ka), lasting for roughly 160 years. The event was likely caused by a weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) due to freshwater drainage into the North Atlantic. It was associated with a global-scale climate change but is recorded in very few high-resolution paleoclimatic time series from the Southern Hemisphere (SH). In this study, we investigate the 8.2 ka event in the SH, particularly the Australian climate response to a weakened AMOC. Five North Atlantic meltwater experiments are conducted with the Australian Earth System Model, ACCESS-ESM1.5, to evaluate the sensitivity of AMOC respon..