Climate and environment of the subtropical and tropical Americas (NH) in the mid-Holocene: comparison of observations with climate model simulations

Mid- to late-Holocene El Niño-Southern Oscillation dynamics reflected in the subtropical terrestrial realm

“…Holocene hydrological conditions have shown significant, nonlinear response to gradually changing insolation, amplified by large climate systems like ENSO (6,46). This study shows that ENSO-related changes are not confined to the tropics but are pronounced in the subtropics as well.…”

Integration of proxy data and model scenarios for the mid-Holocene onset of modern ENSO variability

“…In the southern part of North America clearly dry anomalies occurred in Florida, the Southern High Plains, and in California, but not in southwestern inland USA and northern Mexico (Barron et al, 2003;Ruter et al, 2004;Donders et al, 2005;Kirkby et al, 2005). These mid-Holocene conditions clearly differ from the present-day situation where the active ENSO cycle induces recurrent convective uplift increases in the western equatorial, which brings rain to central South America (Ropelewski and Halpert, 1987) and, via enhanced Hadley circulation and storm-track intensification, to the southern USA (Vega et al, 1998).…”

“…Inland southwestern USA also reveals a different climate pattern compared to other southern states, possibly due to the Sierra Nevada mountains that alter local rainfall patterns. These complex areas cause spatially variable climatic responses to ENSO events (Ruter et al, 2004). …”

In glacial environments beyond glacial terrains: Human eco-dynamics in late Pleistocene Mediterranean Iberia

“…A variety of computational modeling approaches are particularly useful for synthesizing proxy data and representing the dynamics of Pleistocene environmental change. Examples include different approaches to modeling climate, vegetation, and landscape change (Ruter et al, 2004;Clevis et al, 2006;Phillips and Dudík, 2008;Liu et al, 2009;Barton et al, 2010;McDonald and Bryson, 2010;Voinov et al, 2010).…”