Climate model simulations of the mid-Pliocene: Earth's last great interval of global warmth

Abstract

Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project Workshop; Reston, Virginia, 2-4 August 2011 The Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP), supported by the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM) project and Powell Center, is an integral part of a third iteration of the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project (PMIP3). PlioMIP's aim is to systematically compare structurally different climate models. This is done in the context of the mid-Pliocene (∼3.3-3.0 million years ago), a geological interval when the global annual mean temperature was similar to predictions for the next century.