Abstract
Slow climate feedbacks are currently underrepresented in model
assessments of climate sensitivity and their magnitudes are still poorly
constrained. We combine a recently published record of Earth’s Energy
Imbalance (EEI) with existing reconstructions of temperature,
atmospheric composition, and sea level to estimate both the magnitude
and timescale of the ice sheet-albedo feedback since the Last Glacial
Maximum. This facilitates the first opportunity to quantify this
feedback over the most recent deglaciation using a purely proxy
data-driven approach, without the need for simulated reconstructions. We
find the ice sheet-albedo feedback to be amplifying, reaching an
equilibrium magnitude of 0.55 Wm-2K-1, with a 66% confidence interval
of 0.45 - 0.63 Wm-2K-1. The timescale to equilibrium is estimated as
3.6Kyrs (66% confidence: 1.9 - 5.5Kyrs). These results provide new
evidence for the timescale and magnitude of the amplifying ice
sheet-albedo feedback that will continue to drive anthropogenic warming
for millennia to come.