ESS101C
Prof. Jin-Yi Yu
What Causes Millennial Changes?
qIt is still not fully understood what caused the millennial-scale climate changes.
qAny successful hypotheses have to explain
q      (1) What initiated these oscillations?
q      (2) How are they transmitted to various part of the climate system?
q      (3) Why are they stronger during glaciations than during interglaciations?
qThree possible hypotheses have been suggested:
q      (1) The natural oscillations inherent in the internal behavior of northern hemisphere ice sheets
q      (2) The result of internal interactions among subcomponents of the climate system
q      (3) A response to solar variations external to the climate system.