Recent reconstructions of Sea-Surface Temperatures (SSTs) for the Last Glac
ial Maximum (LGM, 21 kyr BP) based on foraminifera and dinoflagellate proxi
es suggest that the north Atlantic may have been warmer than estimated by C
LIMAP [1981]. To better understand the impact of such a warm north Atlantic
on the global LGM climate, we used two different AGCMs to perform sensitiv
ity studies. With the new, warmer SSTs, both models simulate a hydrological
cycle and temperatures very different from those obtained with the CLIMAP
boundary conditions. The most noticeable differences occur in winter over N
orth America and Siberia whereas southern Europe is only weakly affected at
all seasons. Whichever the conditions prescribed over the north Atlantic,
both models underestimate the large cooling recorded by continental proxy d
ata over the Mediterranean Basin.