Warmer western tropical South Atlantic during the Last Interglacial relative to the current interglacial period

The Last Interglacial (LIG, 129–116 thousand years ago) is an excellent case study for global warming scenarios and a target for proxy-model comparisons. The LIG global average sea surface temperature (SST) was ~0.5 °C higher than pre-industrial (PI). Contrary to the global average, tropical SST proxy compilations and model simulations show a negative anomaly in LIG SST relative to PI. Here, we present a LIG SST record from marine sediment core GL-1180 retrieved from the western tropical South Atlantic (WTSA). The SST record is based on Mg/Ca ratios of planktonic foraminifera Globigerinoides ruber (white). Our results indicate a warmer LIG in the WTSA relative to PI and Holocene conditions. We show that a positive LIG SST anomaly in tropical regions can be explained by polar sea ice loss during the LIG, which warms the ocean surface all the way into the tropics. The disagreement between proxy results and model simulations from the fourth phase of the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project could result from uncertainties in our proxy for SST and/or limitations of numeric models in capturing transient forcings and feedbacks in Earth's climate system and imprecise boundary conditions. Additional studies are warranted to better constrain the LIG SST evolution in tropical regions.