Fig. 5: Comparison of Holocene inter-hemispheric hydroclimate variations with changes in the latitudinal energy balance.

In all panels, changes in insolation contrast are given relative to present and arrows indicate the direction of an increasing insolation contrast or a weaker Northern Hemisphere latitudinal temperature gradient. a Reconstructed slope of the Northern Hemisphere latitudinal temperature gradient (LTG) (black, see ref. ⁵) between the low-latitudes and high-latitudes, and the temperature contrast (purple, see ref. ¹⁸) calculated from zonal averages for the tropical region (low-latitudes) (30°S to 30°N) and the Northern Hemisphere extratropics (>30°N). b Standardised Northern Hemisphere (NH) mid-latitude net precipitation (blue) reconstructed by see ref. ³ and the annual mean insolation contrast between 60°N and 30°N calculated from mean monthly insolation values (bold grey line). A positive insolation contrast indicates that the Northern Hemisphere higher latitudes received more insolation than the Northern Hemisphere lower latitudes relative to present. c Standardised precipitation changes associated with the African Monsoon (red) and the mean interhemispheric insolation contrast between 30°N and 30°S for June to August (JJA) (bold grey line). A positive insolation contrast indicates that Northern Hemisphere received more insolation than the Southern Hemisphere compared to present. d Standardised mode of southern African precipitation changes (yellow) and the mean interhemispheric insolation contrast between 30°N and 30°S for December to February (DJF) (bold grey line). e Standardised precipitation changes associated with the South American Monsoon (orange) and the mean interhemispheric insolation contrast between 30°N and 30°S for December to February (DJF) (bold grey line). The black line illustrates the slope of the Northern Hemisphere latitudinal temperature gradient illustrated in a. Shading in panels a-e indicates 1-sigma standard deviation (see ‘Methods' section).