Abstract

Through the use of various proxy data techniques, it has been demonstrated that climate during the early- to mid-Holocene was significantly different than today's climate. For example, the Earth's orbital parameters (which regulate the seasonal and latitudinal distribution of incoming solar radiation) were different than they are today and induced much stronger seasonal variations in temperature, particularly in continental interiors. Seasonal climate phenomena such as the South Asian monsoon were therefore much stronger than they are now. Experiments with global general circulation models (GCMs) have been quite successful in reproducing these Holocene climate changes. We will first present a summary of results from both proxy data analyses and numerical modelling of Holocene climate on a global scale. We will then discuss the current state of knowledge regarding regional Holocene climate in the Lake Baikal region, and present some techniques currently in use to downscale global GCM results to the finer spatial scale that is required for model-data intercomparisons in the region.