Figure 3

Distribution plots showing the distribution of absolute CO₂ (left), climate forcing from CO₂ (middle), and δ¹⁸O (right) across three time intervals (where CO₂ cycles are consistent); Late Pleistocene 0–250 ka (LP250, bottom), Mid-Pleistocene (MPT, 1050–1500 ka) and Middle Piacenzian including M2 (mPWP, 3–3.3 Ma). The white dots represent the median values with the quartile ranges shown in the thick and thin black lines. The width of the distribution shows the density of data in each range. Climate forcing (ΔR_CO2) is expressed relative to pre-industrial CO₂ value of 278 ppm. The effect of excluding M2 in the mPWP interval has a negligible effect on the distribution of CO₂ and CO₂ forcing but a visible impact on δ¹⁸O.