
Dr Irene Malmierca Vallet
PhD
Current positions
Honorary Research Associate
School of Geographical Sciences
Contact
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Research interests
My research interests focus primarily on past climate change. I am interested in using climate models to develop a better understanding of the changes in the ice sheet, sea ice, and climate over the last 800,000 years.
I am currently involved in the EU TiPES project, investigating Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) events, abrupt, large climate swings that punctuated the last glacial period. There is uncertainty whether current IPCC-relevant models can effectively represent the processes that cause DO events. If this holds true, this could noticeably influence their capability to predict future abrupt transitions, with significant consequences for their use in the identification of Tipping Elements (TEs), and more in general, for the delivery of precise climate change projections. In this task, the objective of my study is to formulate possible pathways to a DO Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project (PMIP) protocol that could help investigate cold-period instabilities through a range of insolation-, freshwater-, GHG-, and NH ice sheet-related forcings, as well as evaluating the possibility of spontaneous internal oscillations.
My previous research has particularly focused on explaining the LIG Greenland δ18O maximum. In particular, I used the isotope-enabled HadCM3 climate model to investigate the isotopic signature of Arctic sea-ice changes and Greenland Ice Sheet retreat during the Last Interglacial and to determine whether this can be reconciled with Greenland ice core records.
Publications
Recent publications
08/05/2023Dansgaard–Oeschger events in climate models
Climate of the Past
CMIP6/PMIP4 simulations of the mid-Holocene and Last Interglacial using HadGEM3: comparison to the pre-industrial era, previous model versions and proxy data
Climate of the Past
Coupled impacts of sea ice variability and North Pacific atmospheric circulation on Holocene hydroclimate in Arctic Alaska
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Sea ice feedbacks influence the isotopic signature of Greenland ice sheet elevation changes: last interglacial HadCM3 simulations.
Climate of the Past
Sea-ice-free Arctic during the Last Interglacial supports fast future loss
Nature Climate Change
Thesis
Modelling Last Interglacial Stable Water Isotopes in Greenland Ice Cores
Supervisors
Award date
29/09/2020