Glacial Thermohaline Circulation and Climate: Forcing from the North or South?

Based on the evidence available from both observations and model simulations, the author proposes a view that may provide a unified interpretation of the North Atlantic thermohaline variability. Because of the slow response time of the Southern Ocean (millennia) and the relatively faster response time of the North Atlantic (centuries), the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation is controlled predominantly by the climate forcing over the Southern Ocean at the long glacial cycle timescales, but by the North Atlantic climate forcing at the short millennial timescales.