A global data set of proxy-based temperature estimates and biome reconstructions is used to assess the ability of eight climate models to simulate the warm environments of the Pliocene. Model results show a substantial cold bias in the Northern Hemisphere. Sensitivity tests identify temporal variability, the temperature difference over the proxy time range, as an important factor in model–data discrepancies, indicating that future comparisons should focus on time slices with the same orbital forcing
- Ulrich Salzmann
- Aisling M. Dolan
- Zhongshi Zhang
