The overall goal of the research project is to evaluate recent greenhouse warming and the associated sea level rise against the background of long-term variability in sea level since the last glaciation. Prior results of research conducted by the current research team and others indicate that at the end of the last interglacial, sea level dropped at a rate of at least one-half a meter per century triggered by a postulated seasonal redistribution of solar radiation. The orbital changes that governed the transition into a glacial period continue operating today with less than half of their former intensity.
The researchers seek to clarify climate impacts due to the changing strength of the "insolation beam" during the transitional seasons on ocean heating and polar ice accumulation. The research will involve the analysis of paleoclimatic evidence and current meteorological observations, as well as modeling simulations of past and current climate while focusing on the relationship of insolation forcing to El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and the Arctic Oscillation (AO).
