Chronology and climate forcing of the last four interglacials

The last four interglacials (intervals during which global ice volume was similar to, or less than, that of our current warm stage) correspond to the warmest parts of the marine oxygen isotope stages marine isotopic age (MIS) 5, 7, 9, and 11. These interglacials followed the 100-kyr rhythm of eccentricity, but each had different insolation regimes, different durations, different ice volumes, and different sea-level heights. However, atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations were similar and reached values, which, largely, were close to those of the current interglacial (Holocene or MIS 1) before the industrial revolution led to the artificial enrichment of the atmosphere's greenhouse gas concentrations via the burning of fossil fuels. This chapter summarizes the state of knowledge on each of the climatic warm intervals.