Pollen-based continental climate reconstructions at 6 and 21 ka: a global synthesis

Subfossil pollen and plant macrofossil data derived from 14C-dated sediment profiles can provide quantitative information on glacial and interglacial climates. The data allow climate variables related to growing-season warmth, winter cold, and plant-available moisture to be reconstructed. Continental-scale reconstructions have been made for the mid-Holocene (MH, around 6 ka) and Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, around 21 ka), allowing comparison with palaeoclimate simulations currently being carried out as part of the fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The synthesis of the available MH and LGM climate reconstructions and their uncertainties, obtained using…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• CF
  Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences
• SR
  Sight Research UK

  Awards: quest010001, NE/F014600/1
• NS
  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
• NE
  Natural Environment Research Council

  Awards: NE/F014600/1, quest010001